Book Five: Cinder
by Sokkas Instincts 2
Summary: 200 years after Aang's famous defection the stage is being set for a war not shackled by borders. With the Fire Nation still weakened by the consequences of thr 100 years war no one even notices when a sinister group begins to take it over.Don t own ATLA
1. An Ember Amongst Shadows

Author's Notes: This story is getting some work done, this is for personal taste but any insight into the story in the form of a review would still be much appreciated. I'm updating all chapters right now but I'd still appreciate knowing what you think. I mean it about teh updating thing. he complete revision will be up within five minutes of me posting this.

An Ember Amongst Shadow

Pathetic: Coron's whole world seemed to be summed up in that one word. Everything that made his world pathetic began and ended with the Spirit Doctor. The fact that he was bad natured and unnecessarily mean to Coron and all around ill natured, his parent's ignorance to his true nature, and Coron's loss of speech (which he was pretty sure was also the Spirit Doctor's fault, even if he couldn't prove it.), and his failing health which is what brought the evil man into his home in the first place. Even now he could hear him telling his parents that he wouldn't last the night and the best thing he could do for him was give him a sedative to ease his passing. Ha! What a load of... well, he was probably right actually.

Coron had fallen sick a month and a half ago and it had all gone downhill from there. He had been sent home from school with a record breaking fever and his parents had immediately called the local doctor who had told them he had never seen anything like it before and that he couldn't help them. They had then called in the scum from a pig's hoof, or as he was known to the rest of the world, the Spirit Doctor from the newly formed Health Ministry of Ba-Sing-Se. The only reason they could afford to bring in a specialist was because of whom Coron's parents are. His mother ran the Am-Tim Day Spa which was known throughout the country. His father ran the Ba-Sing-Se zoo which was always packed because of his nation famous Jack-a-Roo shows. Suffice to say money wasn't an issue for them so long as they didn't become exorbitant.

Coron had just disliked the spirit doctor when he first came in. He had only started to hate his guts after he had first tasted the medicine he gave him. In Coron's opinion it tasted like all the sewage in Omashu compressed down into a little glass. The first time he had tried to take it he had switched to a one track mind that said 'get this stuff out of your mouth!' At that point the medicine was still a ways from his throat so he spit it back out and hit the spirit doctor full in the face with it. Although the spitting was unintentional Coron now wished it wasn't.

A little later he tried to ask if the spirit doctor could make the sewage taste any better to which he caught the spittle spraying response, "No, you ungrateful little maggot!" Next he had tried to improve the taste by going through his parents which got the same result. He resigned himself to the fact he would be taking the foul tasting crap until he died, which at the rate he was going it wouldn't be very long. He couldn't figure out if that was bad or not. Coron finely settled on the routine of trying to dim down the medicines earthy flavours of various manures by shutting off as many of his senses as he could. He closed his eyes, plugged his nose and launched the crud to the back of his throat like he was in a drinking contest. Not that he normally participated in that sort of thing; he was only eight. At any rate, the fact that he was getting a sedative tonight could only mean that it would taste better than the regular medicine. As it turned out, he was wrong again and it tasted even worse. The sedative added yet another question to his growing list: what would make him go unconscious, the drug or the taste?

Within seconds of that Coron began to feel sleepy and he nodded off immediately. He realized as he was closing his eyes that he was probably going to die and for a reason that escaped him, that didn't bother him at all. As soon as his eyes closed they snapped open. His brain was moving sluggishly so it told him he was trying to stay awake. About a second after that he realized this wasn't possible because it felt like he had coffee in his veins. Soon after that he realized he actually had the strength to use that energy. Happiness surged up in him like bile sometimes did after he took his medicine. Using every grain of will power in his body he didn't jump out of bed and sprint around his room to flaunt his new health in the spirit doctor's face. The question of why he suddenly felt better never crossed his mind either. What did pop into his head was an act that was both childish and inane.

He sat bolt upright in his bed and began, "You call _that _a _sedative_!? More like über coffee with a pound of sugar thrown in for an extra **KICK!!** One problem with that though: **there's no way it could be, because it tasted like something toxic sludge wouldn't go near!!** What's in it, extract of **YOU!!"**

He then turned on his parents so he could tell them that this guy was by far the worst thing they had ever put in his life, worse than Aunt Mwu's 'hello' pinches that left blood blisters, but before he could his mom said something that threw him completely off his game, "He looks so peaceful when he's sleeping." When Coron heard that he simply stopped and stared. He waved his hand in front of their faces which produced no reaction what so ever and he thought to himself 'nothing?' It took a minute for him to actually realize what he meant when he thought that (wrap your mind around that one). What he was thinking was that his hand had turned see through and was tinted blue. The realization hit him like a physical blow and he stumbled backwards and looked down to see another , more solid him laying in bed with his translucent leg going through a head that looked far more solid.

That was the last straw for his sanity and it went on vacation. Coron dashed straight through his bedroom wall and out onto the field behind his house where he could see the great walls of Ba-Sing–Se rising up in the distance. His sanity was still on vacation because standing by the road that led to his house stood a penguin-seal. His sanity got tired of the chaos all around it and came back. As his mind started processing things the factual part started up first: penguin-seals live at the poles. His next thought was that he must be dead. Coron was again astounded by the fact that this didn't bother him at all and it sent a trickle of pride through him. Coron sat down on the ground and began to ask himself questions, very few of which he was able to answer: If I can walk through walls then why am I not falling through the ground right now, is this the afterlife, why is there a penguin-seal here, am I supposed to do something, etc. The answers that came back were mostly 'not a clue' or 'I don't know'. The intelligible answers left him with a list of options: haunt the spirit doctor, travel the world, or try to find out more about what the heck is going on.

He would have gone on contemplating all this if the penguin-seal hadn't waddled up right in front of him and bopped him with its head. Immediately, his vision shot down to a narrow point with darkness all around him, then the narrow point at the end of his tunnel vision started to radiate colour and he noticed he had the sensation he was falling. The point at the end of his vision started to expand back to normal, and when it was he was launched through the bottom of a lake kicking screaming 50 feet into the air.

As he reached the top of his fall he hung motionless in the air for a second and saw that a tree was right in front of him. He reached out and grabbed a branch to stop a downward descent. It broke and he continued to fall. Three branches later and he was successfully hanging about ten feet off the ground. As he hung limply from the branch he began to take in his surroundings. He was in a bog now with giant trees, like the one he was hanging from jutted out of the ground were in wasn't wet, which wasn't often. Where there was water, rocks came out of the water and they looked like they were perfect for stepping stones, some were even big lay down on. The bog wasn't a huge place either, if you looked to the horizons you could see it got dryer and the root systems of the trees began to shoot up to form an intricate web that could probably be used as a walk way if you were careful about it so you didn't break your ankles. The trees formed a canopy father up, which billowed across like it was made of balloons. Satisfied with his reconnoitring Coron began to swing so he could land on a large rock a short distance from him.

The branch he was on didn't like that and decided to go into the trunk. As Coron fell he managed to twist his body and grab another branch and swing again so he wouldn't land in the water. This would have worked except that when he let go his foot hit another branch that tipped him forward.

He still partially missed the water with his front half landing in the soft mud around the base of the tree and his legs landing in the water. He began to try and ease himself out because his feet had become stuck in the mud under the water. With a loud squelch they came out and he noticed that he had his regular shoes on his feet despite not wearing them when he died. Coron slowly got to his feet and started wiping the mud from himself and caught sight of his reflection in the water. This gave a mixed feeling of relief and disdain.

He hadn't seen himself since he had been sick and his appearance shocked him a little. He was pale now because he hadn't been out of bed for a month and a half. His hair had also grown longer and now ended slightly lower than his shoulders. He silently cursed himself for having such fast growing hair; he looked like a girl! The rest of him had remained the same though and made him feel all right. He still had the sturdy looking shoulders, his dark green eyes, and rounded nose. As he continued to inspect his body for deficiencies the water around his reflection began to ripple. By the time the water was calm again there was a completely different reflection where Coron's had been. In response to this Coron had climbed four feet up the nearest tree.

As he looked down he saw someone who was a foot and a half taller than Coron which was saying something, or so Coron thought, he was tall for his age! The reflection also had eyes that shifted from blue to green with the light and jet black hair that ended in a ragged line around his shoulders. This new reflection confused Coron because he didn't have the rugged look most farmers had and didn't where the fancy clothes that man of the court wore. The answer hit him suddenly and he became a little mad at himself for not realizing it sooner. The man was from the Water Tribes. What had actually tipped Coron off was all the blue the man was wearing. He was wearing blue pants and vest. The vest was rimmed with white fur that had become matted in places. The vest was held together with bone buttons in the shape of runes that must have some significance, but it escaped Coron. He was also wearing a black shirt under the vest. The water began to ripple again which prompted Coron to climb to six feet. The rippling became more and more intense and suddenly the water erupted from the bog by which point Coron was eight feet up the tree. Moments later the jet of water stood still like a picture of a fountain. Coron decided that as an extra precaution he would move to ten feet above this strange acting water.

He took his attention off the water for a moment so that he could plot out an escape route should the branch he was now sitting on decide that the trunk was cosier like the one before had. Normally he'd have been curious about why the branches moved and the numerous other oddities that had occurred, but he thought it'd be better to react to things and not think until he could ask questions. When he had mapped out his escape route he looked back down where the dysfunctional water was and where the water had been the reflection now stood in full three dimensional glory!

The man looked up at Coron and questioned him with a rough voice, "Coron Am-Tim, do you know why you're here?"

"I'm here because I died, and-hey wait! How do you know my name?"

"Come down and I'll tell you. I prefer conversation to shouting!" The man continued in a rather bothered voice.

"No way! If there is one thing I know about this place it's that it's weird. The trees hate me and you took over my reflection. For all I know you want to replace me by sending me down into the water forever! Besides, you can't get me down from here any way!" The man took in Coron's last response and his face suddenly changed into a playful one that scared Coron a little. The man snapped his fingers and Coron felt the branch shift. Before he even started to snap Coron was moving. He felt the branch start to retreat into the tree and he jumped and swung off another branch and continued to do so until he was on the opposite side of the tree and another six feet up. Again, his ability to do this escaped him, but he was grateful it was possible. When he went to jump to another tree and make good his getaway another branch blazed down from out of nowhere and smashed him downwards. As he plummeted he couldn't help but feel angered by the fact that he was going to die twice in one day. The only thing that stopped him from unleashing his awesome arsenal of eight year old profanities (mostly bathroom based) on the world was that the root systems of the surrounding trees had risen up to form a safety net over the ground so his death wouldn't be because of his horrible luck. When he landed he used the roots as a spring and bounced off of them, all the while getting ready to make a run for it. He never got the chance though because as he got off the root system and turned to run he bumped into the reflection and fell back onto them.

The man bowed then seemed to address thin air, "Thank you Gredeer, even more so if you could keep him here a little longer." At that, the root system rose up around Coron and formed a hanging net with his head poking through a hole in the bottom. Coron began trying to set himself free by wiggling around in the roots to try and loosen them enough for him to slip through. This backfired however because the roots were obviously not going to move and he was left swinging between the trees like a piñata.

The man simply stood in front and addressed Coron this time instead of the air, "If you would _please_...No actually carry on, you look absolutely hilarious!" Coron stopped wriggling around in his vane grab for freedom and stared at that man that was now having quite a laugh at Coron's situation. Although Coron really didn't want to talk to his captor he knew he would now have no hope of escaping if he didn't and that if he was ever going to get out of this root net he was going to have to do it by talking. He also decided that he would have to convince this tree bender to let him down instead of trying to tell the trees to let him go like his captor did.

"When you're done laughing could you let me down? I don't think I can get away with you bending the roots around here."

The man stopped laughing and looked at Coron sceptically and replied, "Okay, but before I do I have a question, and a fact for you." He paused and looked at Coron for an answer, realized he didn't need one and continued, "First, the fact: I'm not making these trees move, I'm asking them to move. Now the question: Does the name Argent Baguan mean anything to you?"

Coron skimmed through what he remembered from his history lessons until he remembered, "Yeah, he was the last avatar. Didn't like studying him very much, my friends started teasing me because he died on my birthday, said I was bad luck or something." As Coron ended his answer a vague picture drifted into his vision of the last avatar. He narrowed his eyes and stared at his captor as he began to realize who he was. Only his desensitization of what was going on around him stopped this from shocking him.

Instead, he decided this was a good time to start asking questions, "Why do you go to the spirit world when you die?"

Argent's answer was short and blunt, "You don't." His face lost all its joviality and became a mask of deep thought. In the same moment the root system suddenly loosened and Coron fell onto the ground head first.

Maybe it was some part of Argent that needed to fill the awkward silence that came after Coron's fall or something else. In any case Argent continued his answer, "There are only two groups of people to ever be able to go to the spirit world: the Water Tribe Shamans and the avatars. Water Tribe Shamans are a new group and have to train most of their lives before they can make the journey and since you are only a child..." Argent paused to let the implications of his statement sink in. Instead of doing something modest or noble, Coron decided on breaking into the biggest laugh riot ever and rolling around until his sides hurt so much he was crying as well.

Argent gave him a disapproving look and went on to reprimand him, "You know, when I was told I was the avatar, I was shocked into silence not into laughter."

Coron slowly got to his feet, still holding his aching sides and began an explanation, "I can't bend! I've tried but I can't even make a pebble budge! Besides, it doesn't matter because I'm already dead!"

"You're totally wrong. Most kids from the middle class live sheltered lives. Don't ask, I don't know why, I'm no sociologist."

"What's a..."

"Never mind, all I meant was that you were never put into a situation where you could discover your bending. Will power doesn't allow you to bend on its own. Sheer will power is mostly saved for bending metal, _if _you get that far and I only know of one person who could and that was Toph Bei-Fong! And again: you don't go to the _spirit world_ when you _die_! When the avatar dies he goes to the spirit world to council the next avatar should he need to. When the new avatar dies the old one moves on to the next life. The mere fact that I'm still here proves you haven't died!"

"So if I'm not dead, couldn't you just teach me how to bend and then send me back?" Who better to teach Coron bending than a past avatar.

"No, unfortunately you can't bend in the spirit world and only you ca..."

"Why did the trees move then?"

"Because I moved them." This statement had not come from Argent, but from behind Coron. As he spun around to see who had that melodious voice he saw something materialize from a tree directly behind him. The smell of pollen accompanied this new being and it made Coron want to sneeze. Although it had the general shape of a human it was obvious it wasn't because it didn't have any lower body and it was floating. She (Coron concluded this since it clearly wasn't male) had a round head that was snow white and in place of eyes it had the center of flowers. In place of ears it had large flower petals with earrings made of small roots. She had a flowing gown made of vermillion coloured leaves with branches coming out which bore a disconcerting resemblance to arms and hands. She floated through the air until it was hovering next to Argent.

"Coron, meet Gredeer, the bog tree spirit."

Gredeer didn't have a mouth but her voice seemed to come from everywhere around you whenever she spoke, "I'm very sorry about the branch to the back, but you caught me off guard when you jumped. Since you're from the Earth Kingdoms I assumed you would go for the ground." Coron's response to Gredeer's appearance was for his mouth to drop open and hang their stupidly until he got his wits about him again. He had just got his wits about him and now this! All it added was more questions.

Argent looked from the recovering Coron to the placid looking Gredeer with a miffed look before continuing, "Now that the introductions are out of the way I'd like to continue. Now then, I can't send you back, only you can do that for yourself or your guide could. Unfortunately your guide is the first thing you meet and that was me and I'm not as strong as a spirit so you're on your own until you learn how to send yourself back." Gredeer rolled her eyes at Argent's unneeded complexity and drifted off back into the tree behind her. She felt mildly sorry for the boy, he was going to be here for awhile.

Oblivious to this Argent went on, "The really unfortunate part is that to go to the spirit world you have to want to. My guess is the only thing that stopped your spirit from being ripped apart on the way here was the avatar spirit. It must be dormant right now because if it wasn't you would have appeared as an orb of light then got your human form back. Instead you had that awkward entrance."

Coron's mind had been burning with a question for a while now and he took advantage of Argent's slight pause to interject, "Why would anyone want me dea-in this state?"

Argent didn't see this as an interruption and his face took on a sincerely sad look as he answered Coron's question, "In my time here I've looked at the loose ends I left back in the mortal world. Assuming I haven't gravely misjudged anything and what I've learned is correct, **you** being sent to the spirit world wasn't ordered by anyone. You're just another face in the crowd to the group that did this to you. It was probably part of some plan that was laid by the shadow organization known as Fallen Fire. They're the only group with the audacity to try and pull this off. They're primarily based in the Fire Nation and could be part of a larger group for all I know. They're incredibly hard to watch from here for some reason. What I do know is that the organization was formed almost 200 years ago, shortly after Fire Lord Ozai fell. You wouldn't have been taught this in school, but right after the invasion on the day of 'Black Sun', most of the royal family was hunted down and eradicated. The few who survived the purge came together and formed the core of Fallen Fire. They have sway almost everywhere, even in the Water Tribes, and Earth Kingdoms, though it is limited abroad.

"They were small for awhile but their membership started to grow after the Fire Nation had heavy penalties laid on it after the war, even though the populous had been against the monarchy near the end. They had a population limit set on them so they wouldn't have the man power needed to start another war, severe fines for the same reason, and a new government put onto the throne to push a more peaceful view on the populous.

"Fallen Fire's been lazy for awhile now but I've started to see evidence that they've set a large plan into motion. Out of all the smaller ones that have popped up over the past century, they're the only ones I'm keeping tabs on because they really see a bigger picture." A quizzical look from Coron forced him to give another explanation, "Most shadow organizations popped up in the past 75 to 100 years. Shadow organizations started to come about as more fanatically minded people realized that violence could get them what they wanted. Any newer ones don't have enough clout to be any threat to anyone. Fallen Fire probably infiltrated Ba-Sing-Se's health ministry and you had the misfortune of having one of theirs sent to you, though why they would want bodies in that state I don't have a clue at all. It would just be a hollow shell."

Coron couldn't contain another question any longer which was lucky because Argent abated at that very moment, "How do you spy on Fallen Fire?"

This prompted Argent to give an approving grin, "I use my communal animal. Every person has one and the avatars can use theirs to look onto the mortal plain from the spirit world. If we can find yours, you can use it to keep tabs on your body so you'll know where it is when you go back. I think we'll see if it's the shrew worm first." With that he motioned Coron to follow him and they walked to the root system Coron had seen when he was hanging from the tree branch. That seemed eons before this.

As they got closer Gredeer reappeared and guided them to a hole that Coron never would have seen on his own. They walked through the low tunnel deeper and deeper until Argent was crawling and Coron was hunched over so far he looked like a frog. The tunnel abruptly ended and when they walked out Coron saw open sky and plains that ran toward the horizons. He turned around and saw the tunnel they had just come as a little mound on the side of a hill with the roots nowhere in sight.

Coron got a slight case of vertigo for a second and asked more out of awe than curiosity, "Is this place ever normal?"

Argent answered with his second short answer, "What do you think?" while he rolled his eyes.


	2. Shadow in the Spotlight

Shadow in the Spotlight

Fifteen Years Later

The door to the house swung open and the Minister of Fire Nation Culture stepped out into the crisp morning air. He was decked out in his finest. Robes of crimson red interlaced with glinting gold thread wove a design that showed his political power as well as his pride in his country. Despite his already enormous power he wasn't satisfied as the head of his country's culture department; he was applying for the position of High Chancellor. He was also not aware that from between the window slats of the house opposite him, he was being watched. It was obvious why he didn't know he was being watched: he had been for the last year and had gone none the wiser, why should today be any different?

Jericho Vooluse had been camped out in one of Fallen Fire's safe-houses for the past five hours, waiting and watching for the minister to leave and apply for the newly created position. As the minister began to walk down the street in the direction of the palace, Jericho checked that his own disguise of the minister was identical to the original before slipping out without a sound after him. It was lucky it was still early in the morning; it would have looked strange to see two identically dressed people moving so differently. The minster had a stately walk, one that befitted a powerful politician, or so he thought. Instead, it showed he was conscious of his walk and looked like he had ill fitting underwear. In stark contrast, Jericho was on the verge of loping and doing so without a sound with a look in his eyes that told of a predator inside him. The minister didn't even realize that Jericho was following him until he was almost standing right beside him. Before he could do anything, Jericho had shoved him into the alley they had just drawn level with.

Everything had gone according to plan until that moment. Jericho had meant to finish the minister quickly, instead, he recovered immediately, and sensing Jericho's intentions started pumping fire blast after fire blast at Jericho and the entrance of the alley. Jericho quickly went into the alley and produced two fireballs, one in each hand. He then started to block the fire blasts by absorbing them into his fireballs. Once the minister realized what Jericho was doing he stopped, which was a big mistake. Jericho raised the two fireballs which were by now the size of basketballs over his head and took advantage of the minister looking upward. The minister's attention had been caught by two of Jericho's followers pushing a sheet of metal over the top of the alley. Jericho hurled the fireballs into the ground, throwing up a thick smoke screen. The minister noticed and began to back away wearily. Jericho took out an ornate knife and charged through the smoke as close to the right wall as he could. He launched himself through the end of the smoke barrier before the minister could react and had the knife between his ribs and into his heart without even flinching. Fire bending always led to noisy deaths, but that didn't mean that it couldn't be incorporated into this. Jericho pushed the heat of fire throughout the blade scorching everything the blade touched. If the minister wasn't dead by then he wasn't human.

Jericho withdrew the knife and let the lifeless body fall to the ground. He then went further back into the alley and picked up the credentials and papers that the minister had carelessly thrown back in his retreat. He then walked out of the alley, for all the world the Minister of Culture, on his way to work. By the time Jericho reached the palace his heart had stopped racing. He did like getting his hands dirty once and awhile, but it wouldn't do to come into the palace looking panicked. When he reached what was now his department he gave the application and the rest of the papers to one of his workers and left the way he came. He didn't stop until he had arrived back at the safe-house. Before entering he took a long breath. If _any _of what he had done showed on his face he would be in for it. Even though he was the leader of the Fallen Fire cell, which gave him a lot of power, it didn't save him from Cordow's wrath because he was the leader of the Black Sun; the shadow organization that Fallen Fire was part of.

He went inside the safe house and changed from the robe into his regular clothes and felt much more at home. The robe had been restricting his movements and an enterprising grunt of his cell might have lasted long enough to get a shot in. With the change in clothing done he looked about the safe house. The inside of the house was quite barren; there was only a cabinet, posters covering three of the walls, and a large fire pit in the middle of the room. The cabinet had hundreds of different identities in it that had every detail imaginable in them. Each one listed speech traits, regular habits, friends, clients, co-workers, agendas, favourite foods, ambitions, summarized life bios, and plans for disguising oneself as them. There were also hundreds of posters on the walls of the safe-house. Posters of the members of Fallen Fire were used for a ranking system. The higher your bounty the lower you were. The main thing that any operative was good at was not being seen. The more well known you were the more that could be attributed to you and therefore you weren't as good. No one could compete with Jericho for his place because the Fire Nation had classified him a couple years go so he wasn't even known to the regular police force any more.

The Fallen Fire posters barely covered the smallest wall of the house. The rest were dominated by posters of other wanted criminals along with their bounty. Fallen Fire operatives would often disguise themselves as different criminals to raise their bounty, then change the disguise and bring them in as a bounty hunter and collect. There were also holes blasted in some of them. This was to show that they were now in custody and not to go after them. This was one of Fallen Fire's main incomes because Jericho didn't like letting his sub-ordinates slack off so it had become his cell's hobby.

Neither of these things held any of his interest now. What did was the fire pit in the middle of the room. On first glance there was nothing special about it. On second glance you might notice something odd about it. The embers that littered the bottom seemed to be laid out so that none of them overlapped in the first layer. On closer inspection you might notice that they were all burning on their bottom. The only reason this wasn't obvious was that the cinders underneath them smothered the light coming from it. Jericho raised his hands like he was receiving a bowl of soup and began to make a fireball. He made it grow in size until it was the same diameter as the fire pit. Then he started to make its heat more and more intense. When he was satisfied he lowered it into the fire pit. Before it touched the embers though, they flipped over and the ones around the edges rose up to form a shallow bowl around it. Once this was done Jericho backed up, almost to the door, and then ran head long at it and jumped in like a cannonball.

No matter how many times he had to do this he always closed his eyes. When he opened them he couldn't tell the difference. The only thing that clued him into the fact that his eyes were now open was that a hooded figure appeared in his vision as well as an ornate picture of the sun. He immediately recognized the sun as the symbol for the Fire Nation government. Although their flag had stayed the same, there were now symbols to denote a lot of things. Sometimes there were symbols at the end of each of the sun's eight tips denoting a branch of the government, these were not present however. It did still have the long spiral to the center signifying the gap in power from the government to the monarchy. The figure that seemed to be floating (Jericho couldn't see where he was let alone the floor) didn't appear to be much taller than Jericho, though there was no way to verify this. Jericho immediately identified him as Cordow because of the lack of hands. The commonly accepted theory was that when Cordow had tried to take control of Black Sun from its previous commander his hands had been burnt off and before his predecessor died he had cursed the balls of fire where his hands should be.

"Strange, I didn't know you had vision problems Jericho, or maybe you've already taken the position of High Chancellor?" The voice could only have come from Cordow because Jericho saw no one else there. The voice was also undoubtedly Cordow's because of its spooky sound, like a haunting chant. Jericho's hands immediately went to his face. Sure enough a pair of glasses rested on the bridge of his nose. Jericho's mind reeled to fins an excuse. He wasn't supposed to take the position in the first place and if Cordow put two and two together there would be big trouble.

His brain hadn't let him down in twenty years of service and it didn't stop now as it spewed out his answer for him, "There was a slight hiccup in the plan. When Dorian went to take out the Culture Minister his clothes got burnt and the minister had an appointment shortly after it and Dorian was too far away from a safe house to get new ones. I changed into them and went in his stead. The glasses area remarkable fit, I must have forgotten they were there." It wasn't his greatest lie but it still used a little bit of the truth. Dorian was one of the two that had pushed the metal sheet over the alley. Cordow had known who was taking part in the operation so it would be suicide to say someone who wasn't.

Cordow seemed none the wiser to the lie and continued, "So we now have someone in the running for High Chancellor. It is assumed that we are going to make sure that ours is chosen."

"Of course, I've had operatives in the selection board from the day before it was created." It had been Jericho's own idea to make a selection board for overseeing the appointment of the High Chancellor. This meant, of course, that the royal secretary thought it was all his idea. Jericho had also gone through a lot of thought of who to put on it. He didn't want to concentrate his forces into one area because if they were to be found out he would be seriously shorthanded. In the end he put a few of his own on the board and gathered a group of other politicians that would be easy to bend. The only reason he had a few of his own in there was to push the others if they decided the high road was for them. There was no way he wasn't getting the job.

Cordow was talking again, "If the second phase is complete then move to third and make it quick, we're running out of time. I don't want the Avatar to have any more instruction then is absolutely necessary." With that he raised what should have been his left hand and a ball of fire the size of a pea drifted out of it. It floated over to the diagram of the sun and stopped in the center of the spiral. It became an eye with a black sun blazing in its center instead of a pupil. Then it started from the line in the center of the spiral a slowly moved outwards, erasing the image. This stopped about halfway through the spiral.

Once it had stopped Cordow spoke again, "With that done, this meeting is over." Jericho saw his fireball blaze into existence, and without him even realizing it, he sprinted into it headlong as he had back in the safe house. He flew back into the safe house and managed to stop with his nose an inch from the wall. He didn't even bother wondering where he had just been or how he had gotten there. Cordow was capable of doing fantastic things. It was the main reason for his command since before Jericho had even been a member of Black Sun.

There was one problem with that though. Jericho craved power more than the person he was now impersonating. The main reason that the plan was running a little behind was that it was because Jericho wanted it late. He had his own plan working alongside the one Cordow had concocted. If Cordow's succeeded Fallen Fire would be able to move almost without restraint. If Jericho's succeeded he would replace Cordow as leader of Black Sun. From there he could bring down vengeance on the other commander who had tipped Cordow off last time about Jericho trying to gain a seat of power and gain control over the entire world. Cordow didn't like his commanders in seats of power for a couple of reasons. They could easily leak information if they became traitors. It would also be a bad thing if one of them was caught because they were the main secret keepers of the organization, second only to Cordow.

Jericho had come to the conclusion long ago that the secret to most of Cordow's power was because he was drawing it from the spirit world. It was the only explanation that he could think of for him being able to do the outlandish things he did. With the chaos Cordow's plan would eventually kick up Jericho would have plenty of opportunities to get the Avatar working for him. He had no idea how Cordow had managed to bypass the Earth Kingdoms in the avatar cycle but he knew the avatar could be used to cut Cordow off from his other worldly power. He had been keeping close tabs on the avatar for the last five years when he could. He didn't have enough power to get people around him all the time so reports were sketchy most of the time, but now that he was starting to enact his own plan it no longer mattered.

He moved across to the wall the posters of the Fallen Fire operatives and began to look among them for the posters of his lieutenants. Once he had located all of them he touched each of their pictures with a smoking finger. They glowed with a golden light, and then went back to what they looked like before. This was another trick of Cordow's, if you touched any of their posters with a smouldering finger they would come to that safe house. He sat down and awaited their arrival.

Within two hours they had all arrived and he addressed them about the third stage, "The next stage will give you more room for error, and even more room for gains. Do this correctly and the next steps will be accomplished easily. It will practically take care of itself. Moving onto assignments: Dorian, you're in charge of readying all the secondary government positions for takeover. Rorin you're in charge of High Chancellor selection board. Lars, undermine the police force and get it ready for takeover. Riley and Codran stay behind, the rest of you are to split up and will be under orders of the three I just named. They are now your leaders and you must listen to the orders they give you." Jericho voice was calm but it hid a menace that made some of his followers flinch whenever he emphasized something. There weren't many assignments in this stage and Jericho was nervous about that. If the other lieutenants got snarky and disobeyed orders everything could go to hell. The reason he had chosen the three he had was that they had the most dominating personalities. The jobs weren't hard so it didn't really matter how good a leader they were. They realized he was done and they leaped up and shot out the door, eager to be away from the frightening man they called their captain.

As soon as the new groups had left Jericho turned and addressed his two remaining lieutenants, "You're the only two I'm actually going to take into my confidence for this mission. The two assignments I gave you lead to one person we need to have on our side for my plan to work." His voice was rougher than it normally was because it took a lot of self control not to show his excitement, and if they thought that he was actually taking them into his confidence they must be really dense. They had been with him long enough to know that he really wasn't. He just meant they were going to get access to some of his deadlier items.

Jericho motioned to Riley to give his report which he started immediately, "I infiltrated the population control ministry. A soon as I had the right connections I put my men in and began to take it over. We can now choose who gets the third child privileges each year. I also got the data you wanted. One line of the Hythen family seems to win the lottery every year. There aren't many of them though because they lived a bit too close to the palace on the day of black sun and very few of them survived the fighting that went on near there." He concluded his report with placid features but Jericho read him like an open book and saw he had no clue why he did almost anything Jericho had told him to. Jericho decided to have all the information before he told his two men what it all pointed to, even if Codran already had some idea.

He had barely motioned to Codran before he burst into his report, "I have been testing every child within the age range you gave me and unfortunately there is a fairly long list." He paused for a moment to hand Jericho a list of paper that had roughly fifteen names on it then continued, "These are even after I cross referenced with the data you gave me and the tests the Air Nomads used." After he said that Riley's eyes shot open for a split second before he could control himself and Jericho new it was obvious that he had made the connection that they were looking for the Avatar.

Before Riley could ask a question Jericho began an explanation, "When I put together the information that you two have given me it points to one person, a boy named Saiben Hythen who is about 15 years old. This data also tells me his family is extremely lucky. Wouldn't you have to be extremely lucky to have the avatar for a child?" Jericho finished with a look on his face that said he was talking to children; anything to make them feel lower than he was.

Riley took advantage of the short break to get his question answered, "Luck is hereditary?"

His question threw Jericho, but he recovered and gave him the answer that would stifle all others, "According to Cordow." His answer had the desired effect because both the men sat where they were and waited for him to continue, "Another question I'm _sure_ is running through your mind right now is why isn't the avatar from the Earth Kingdoms. Again, Cordow had a hand in this. He has done this so we can keep the avatar under lock and key while the plan moves ahead. I'm not going to be following this plan. I want you two to bring him to me once I have my new job at the palace. Riley, make sure he has nowhere to run, and Codran, make sure I get him in one piece. You are authorized to use the Fire Ants and any of our other operatives in the black file; I would suggest the latter as we have one close to him already. You're dismissed" His two lieutenants nodded their approval and left.

He had no doubt they would bring him the avatar. They were his two best and with the added resources there was no way they would fail. The Fire Ants was the name of Fallen Fire's death squad. They weren't used much because they never had victims in less than three pieces by the time they were done. They paid no thoughts to their own body in a fight and fought with such savagery that they scared most of their opponents into submission, not that that saved them. The black file was a list of people that Fallen Fire had leverage on. They could be counted on to do anything. Jericho smiled to himself, if everything went according to plan here; he would be the leader of Black Sun in under a year, the world under his boot, and the avatar for a puppet.


	3. The Actual Beginning

The Actual Beginning

As soon as the bell rang things started to happen quickly. The doors were thrown open and Saiben launched himself through them, completely skipping the ten steps to the ground, and sending off jubilant bursts of fire the whole way. He landed hard and almost fell over but remained standing, much to his knee's displeasure.

From behind came a mocking voice that still had kindness in it, "That's it Saiben! Break your ankles the second school's out!" Saiben turned around and shot his friend his daredevil smile and waited for him to get down the stairs. Jouku wasn't exactly what you would call handsome because of his extra weight. At least, that's what it looked like initially. On closer inspection you could see that he was just wearing baggy clothes. The fact that he was a little under average height seemed to compound his overweight appearance even more. Without the clothes you could see he was anything but fat. His was bordering on the edge of skinny; the only thing that saved him was the small amount of muscle on his body. His eyes didn't do him justice either. They were a bland green that had a watery quality to them. His eyes made him seem like he would break out crying at any moment even though he hadn't cried in eight years. He was the opposite of his body in every way but one and he exploited that whenever he sparred in his fire bending practices. If you looked hard enough at him you could see his intelligence which exemplified itself a lot. He was particularly good at writing and his teacher and become an avid fan, often forcing writing out of him much to the classes displeasure.

Saiben on the other hand was much better off in the looks department with his golden eyes and muscular physique. He had lost some of the muscular quality over the past couple of years because he had only gone into track which resulted in his legs being called a work of art by his gym teacher before he'd been fired for coming to work drunk that day. Like the rest of him, his eyes were the opposite of Jouku's. They showed perseverance and power, which he had in spades. This was really obvious whenever he practised bending because he wouldn't stop until he got it right which could absorb his whole day sometimes. Because of his long practices he had become known as 'powder keg' because of all the explosions he caused when he tried a move that was too advanced for him. Some people thought that all the soot he made had caused his red air to become extremely dark. It was like that naturally though and as red hair sometimes turned brown or blond with age, his looked like it would turn black. All that compounded with his above average height and he had most of the more physically focused girls after him. After a very short time this started to annoy him since he couldn't put up with any of them for long, so fixated were they on the material that he could often say anything to them and they would giggle endlessly.

As they walked home there was charged feel in the air that seemed to build up until Saiben broke its banks, "So do you think we got in?" His voice sounded like a kid talking about a new toy.

The change in voice wasn't loss to Jouku who replied with a smirk on his face, "Yes, in all likelihood." He had come as close as his modesty allowed him to saying 'What are you, nuts! Of course we got in'. What had been charging the air on their walk home was the next school they were going to. They weren't like many other people and only tolerated school, enjoying some of their classes. What they were talking about was the Fire Nation's equivalent to Harvard: The Phoenix Academy

It was one of only two high schools in the world that uses a selection board to see who gets in. Saiben and Jouku would view anyone who assumed they were going to get in as the peak of egotistical narcissism. There was of course no doubt that that both of them would get in. They had both graduated on the honour roll. They even shared the first and second highest marks in almost every class. Jouku had pointed out a little while ago that it was almost like they had had a head start on their grade. Neither of them minded this though, their work load was considerably less because of it.

They also had another reason for their giddiness. Because they had graduated with honours their families had gotten them tickets to see Fire Blast. Ever since Earth Rumble's popularity had sky-rocketed shows like this had popped up all over the world. Saiben was looking forward to shutting his brain out for the night and letting the action and clichés entertain him. Jouku, on the other hand, had a real problem with shutting his brain off and generally got a lot less out of the experience than Saiben did because of it. Despite this he was still thrilled to be going.

They had nearly gotten to their crossroads when Jouku saw something that made his stomach lurch. Tucked away in an alley was a shirt that tried to hide the back made entirely of muscle underneath it. He knew the back; if regular people could have arch enemies this would be Saiben's. The back belonged to Datt. The spirits were away when he was born though because he barely had a brain. He was all muscle and he was fast to boot, quite possibly because of a malfunctioning adrenaline gland. Jouku kept walking, praying that Saiben wouldn't notice him. If he did, he would try to confront him about something he thought he might be doing. Most of the time he was right and Datt was either stealing something, or bullying some school kid. It wasn't that he was evil or anything, it was just that he didn't know any better.

They were almost past him when Jouku was forced to cringe when he heard Datt speak, "Datt's ticket!" Two years since he had gone to the same school as Saiben and Jouku and he still sounded like platypus-bear. The instant he started speaking Saiben whipped in the direction of the noise. His eyes narrowed when he saw him in the alley.

Jouku moved to head him off him off while trying to talk him out of it, "You don't even know if there's anyone back there, he could have found it and even if there was, they might have given it to him!"

Saiben marched right past Jouku and shouted back to him, "First, Datt would never think to bend down to pick something up, secondly, who would _give_ Datt anything?!" Datt apparently heard Saiben yelling at Jouku and turned around, revealing a kid that looked like he was about six. The kid was an ant compared to Datt. When Datt realized that Saiben was walking towards him he picked up the kid and put him father down the alley. Saiben held out his hand, hoping that Datt would do something smart for once and just give back what he took.

Datt's eye's narrowed and Saiben dove out of the way a second before a fist the size of a bowling ball hurtled through the air where his head had been a second before. Saiben hit the ground and rolled, ready to fight now. When he got to his feet though, he almost fell over again. Datt was holding the ticket in one hand and had a ball of fire underneath it. Saiben paused for a second because he couldn't believe that Datt was a bender. He also couldn't believe that someone was able to teach him to bend and that Datt had thought to do that all on his own. Datt took Saiben's pause to mean his threat had worked. Saiben wasn't worried about the ticket at all though. Like everything else in the Fire Nation, the ticket was fire proof. After a whole city had burned to the ground in their southern province a decade earlier, their nation had gone to great lengths to make sure it didn't happen again.

Datt gave Saiben a grin that showed off his tomb stone teeth and began to walk away. Saiben snapped out of his momentary shock and shot a dart of fire which connected with the hand that held the ticket. Datt yelled in pain, dropped it and rounded on Saiben, the ticket forgotten. Despite the howls of rage now coming from Datt, Saiben noticed the little kid was pulling on his own pant leg.

He looked down for a second and was asked a question as soon as he made eye contact, "Why are hurting bwig bwother?" Saiben recovered from the shock of what he just heard in time to grab Datt's brother a dive out of the way as Datt launched stream of fire at him. Half way through his jump he realized he didn't need to dodge the blast as it petered out a foot from Datt. Saiben twisted in mid air and landed with the kid on top of him. He sprang up and over the kid and grabbed the ticket, and slowly walked backwards with it until he was next to Datt's brother again, watching Datt's vain efforts to launch fire blasts at him.

Without looking down he started to talk to the kid, "I'm really sorry about hurting your brother, but I sort of assumed that he was taking the ticket from you. Do you think you could help me calm him down?" The kid looked up and nodded. It seemed like this happened a lot to him. He got up and held the ticket in front of him and began to walk towards the seething mass of muscle in front of him. Datt saw him and stopped his attempts to fire bend. Once Datt had the ticket he calmed right down and Saiben was able to walk right up to him. Once Saiben had apologized Datt got a confused look on his face and let his little brother lead him away.

When Saiben turned around he met an exasperated Jouku who launched it a criticising rant, "You know this isn't the first your overdeveloped sense of right and wrong got you into a tight spot! As soon as you see him you start to think at the level of an amoeba! Try using your eyes next time and then maybe you won't embarrass yourself so much. And another thing: because of _you_, we might not be able to get to the show on time now and I think that would show our families a lot of gratitude for waiting in line for hours to get tickets!" He had said it all in one breath and once he stopped he started panting like he had just been in a race.

Saiben decided to defend himself with an accusation, "You sound like my mom!" Try as he might, he couldn't keep a smile off his face and they both burst out laughing. The comparison was too far-fetched to be serious. Saiben's mom might not have been as smart as Jouku at his age, but she was quick to point out you flaws if she deemed necessary. She was a master of the guilt trip and 'reducto anabsurdum' (it's real, look it up). It didn't work right away, and most of the time the subject of her harassment walked away laughing. A little while later though and they had changed their ways. To this day, Saiben couldn't figure out why it was so effective. The only person it didn't seem to effect was his brother Kodou, probably because he was a die-hard prankster.

As soon as they had both stopped laughing at Saiben's comparison they ran home and ate dinner in a rush and met back at the crossroads. Once there, they sprinted towards the building Fire Blast was in and were forced to stop moments later of their cramps. The building was easy to spot because of the huge spire that had been added to it. The whole time they were walking towards it Saiben started to realize that his comparison might not have been as crazy as he thought because as he was walking he began to feel a little shameful about his actions. He began to silently curse Jouku, then himself for acting like he had then, Jouku, then himself again. He played the blame game in his mind all the way to the entrance to Fire Blast.

The show had been terrible in Saiben's eyes. A second after that thought came into his head he realized that it was because of how Jouku got him thinking before it. Jouku on the other hand had had an absolute blast as he had succeeded in leaving his brain at the door. As they walked home Saiben started analysing everything, which he blamed on Jouku. The first thing he thought about was how he and Jouku were usually in the opposite situations. That led him to start to think if this was how Jouku thought all the time and if he did how he stood it. Halfway through his next thought he became aware that Jouku was talking. He started to listen and heard him ranting about how good Fire Blast was. Unable to contain himself any longer Saiben burst into an equally long tirade about how obviously the whole thing had been faked and how he couldn't possibly call it entertainment. Near the end of his rant Saiben noticed that a grin was slowly forming across Jouku's face.

"You're just like my mom!" he yelled for the second time that day, this time without anger in it.

"Don't tell me that actually worked!" Jouku gawked with mock incredulity. This only served to make Saiben more annoyed, but somehow less angry. They spent the rest of the walk home talking about how obvious some of the pyrotechnics had been and by the end of it Saiben was back to his old mind frame. He noticed this and started cursing himself for spotting it, then stopped. Hopefully the habit would be gone in the morning.


	4. Eyes Wide Shut

Eyes Wide Shut

It was the first summer ever that Saiben and Jouku had spent apart for any length of time. Saiben's grandpa, Kurota, was getting on in years and his parents thought it would be a good idea for their children to spend as much time as possible with him before he was gone for good. There were a couple problems with that though. Kurota had no intention of dying and he was the grumpiest thing on the face of the earth. You could tell just by looking at him, scores of wrinkles, a face almost permanently in a frown and wispy white hair that was getting tugged down with the his frown. Saiben didn't get along to well with him either so instead of spending 'quality time' with him Saiben spent most of his time running around the big ravine a little to the south of his grandpa's humble abode and practicing his bending on the beach at the end of the ravine.

About a week into their stay Saiben had a bit of a routine going. As soon as he got up he would go out and practice his bending on the beach until he thought the rest of his family would be up. When he had completed his katas he would go back to the house to have breakfast and then try to leave immediately before his parents tried to get him involved in a conversation with his grandpa. After that it was back out to the ravine to horse around with his brother, Kodou until they were both sweating buckets and staggered back to the cottage. The rest of his day was spent on more relaxing things and careful avoidance of the 'grand-grump', a nickname Kodou had thought up.

A couple of days into the second week and something happened that threw off Saiben's routine. When he got to the beach it wasn't flat like it normally was. There were small craters every few feet along the beach and they were still smoking. Not one to be deterred, Saiben crept around them like they were brimming with poison and found a patch of sand big enough and began his kata. Once he got through his first kata his curiosity overcame him and he left to try and figure out what had made the craters. If he had found something like this around his house or one of the parks around the capitol he would have gone to report it and get help immediately. Here however, there wasn't another family for miles and he was pretty sure he could get away from any animal that might be stumbling through the woods, well, maybe not a shirshu, but he seriously doubted they were around here.

Once he got back to the cottage he went straight for his father who promptly told him he didn't have a clue and that he should ask his grandpa. His curiosity overcame his dislike for the wizened old man and he went to look for him. When he couldn't find him he went to ask his father who promptly said that he was probably still at his shop.

"He still works!?" Saiben asked incredulously.

"Yeah." His father continued, "I'm surprised you don't know. It's a china shop that's probably the finest in our country." Saiben's feeling of incredulity stayed with him as he walked towards where his grandpa's store. How had he never even noticed it before? He was struck by the sudden idea of being a hypocrite without realizing it. He barely knew his grandfather and he already thought he knew who he was.

When he reached the store he opened the door tentatively and peered inside. He couldn't actually see anything because there were no windows and the only other door out was shut. When Saiben opened the door wider it let a narrow beam of light into the room that fell across the floor so he could see the other door. He closed the door and continued around to the front were a modest sign greeted him. Toicho Glass Work was painted on the sign in faded crimson paint. There were also a few holes to the left of the door so that messenger hawks could come in and out. He opened the door and walked inside. Light crashed in behind him, straight through the shelves full of glass that lined the room and the room became full of rainbows that forced Saiben to squint at their intensity.

"We're not open yet! Come back in an hour!" said a grumpy voice from somewhere in the reams of light. Saiben shut the door quickly and the light in the room dimmed until it was easy enough to see with just a small fire burning in his grandpa's hand.

"Er, sorry about that. I sort of just found out that you were still working and..."

"Why are you here?" his grandpa interjected with a snappy, gravel voice.

"I was trying to find out why there were craters-in-the-beach." He finished in a rush because his grandpa's brows had slowly furrowed. When they hit a certain point he lost his patience and exploded about getting to the point faster.

"Why were you down at the beach?" One of the furrowed brows rose to show interest.

"I've gone down there every morning for the past week and a half to practice my bending before breakfast."

"And you haven't seen this before?"

"No." Saiben knew better than to ask questions.

With a small smirk on his face he replied, "I made those craters."

Saiben only managed to get out one distinct word in his mass of gibberish, "How?!"

"You don't think I buy all this glass myself, do you?" The fact hit Saiben then that the old man he called grandpa had to be able to melt sand into glass. The mere fact that he was able to produce fire hot enough to do so had to make him a fire bending master!

He could not have kept the shock from his face if he tried, but it became even more apparent when his grandpa added something, "Would you like me to teach you?"

Saiben only managed to close mouth and nod dumbly and his grandpa only added something that maxed out Saiben's incredulity, "And since when are you a bender?"

As it turned out, his grandpa had never actually seen Saiben bend so he'd just assumed he wasn't a bender. Saiben also found out that he was a slave driver the next morning. Every morning, a couple hours before Saiben normally got up, his grandpa would toss him out of bed unceremoniously and waited impatiently for him to get ready so they could go down to the beach and start Saiben's training. On the first day, he had simply told Saiben to watch as he pumped an extremely concentrated stream of fire into the sand until smoke started to rise from it. The whole process only took five minutes. After he was done he had Saiben heave it out of the hole and role it along the floor of the ravine. He continued until he saw an opening in the wall of the ravine. Kurota told him to roll it into there and once he did, Kurota pulled on a lever that looked like a tree branch and they rose into the room that Saiben had been looking in the day before.

With the glass in his workshop, they went back outside and Saiben was told to start whatever katas he did normally. Once he got through them all, Kurota handed him three scrolls with new katas on them and to keep practising them until he mastered them. This continued for awhile and Saiben mastered each kata within a couple days, much to his grandfather's dislike. He could tell that Kurota wanted to get something done before he actually started to teach him, but the rate at which he was learning made that nearly impossible.

After another three weeks his grandpa gave up on trying to stump him with advanced practices and told him to make a small fire in his hand. Once he did so he was handed a stick in his other hand and was told to light the stick on fire without touching it with the fire. His grandpa wandered off and left. He was there when he came back to get him for dinner twelve hours later. Before Saiben could turn around to see him, Kurota let a flicker of surprise show on his face because Saiben's fire had changed from an orange-red, to nearly invisible blue. The stick also had its bark peeling from the heat.

After Saiben had managed to light the stick after a couple days he was taken aside by Kurota before dinner and knew something was up because Kurota had a something approaching a smile on his face.­

"You're doing much better than I thought you would. You've managed to keep up with the pace that I learned everything and I was considered a prodigy in my day. The next step I took was into glass blowing. It lets your control grow and hones your control over intensity even more."

Saiben interrupted for moment, mostly out of surprise, "Wait, you're going to let me work in the shop?"

Kurota let out a long breath before answering, "Yes, but not any actual orders. It's a hard to skill to practice. You need to get the flame just the right temperature. Heat up the glass to fast and it shatters, go too slowly and it loses potentially high viscosity."

As the weeks went on Saiben became to be able to work the glass. In the beginning he didn't even have the stamina to go for very long and ended spending his time cleaning the shop up until his hands stopped hurting. When he had his stamina built up he started on simple sculptures and when he became competent Kurota started to supervise him doing the simple orders.

When he completed the first one Kurota wrapped it up and placed it with a small group of other completed orders. Once that was done he told Saiben to wait and he went into the back room and came back out after a moment and plopped a small bag down filled with copper and silver pieces in front of Saiben. Saiben eyed the bag warily, not sure whether to believe his grandfather intended to pay him or not. He'd thought that Kurota counted training him as a 'wage' of sorts anyways.

After the silence became uncomfortable Kurota snapped, "Well, what're you just sitting there for? Take the money!"

The abrupt end to the silence made Saiben jump unintentionally before he answered, "I didn't think I was getting paid to do this."

"You're doing work for me so you get paid for it. Isn't that how things work?"

"Err, yeah, I just thought that the training would sort of cancel out for the work. I mean, thanks a lot for paying me, I just didn't expect it."

Saiben thought Kurota's face had cracked for a second, but it he was just smiling, "Well, it's good to see you don't have a sense of entitlement. No, you work here you get paid here; training you is what anyone in your family would have been happy to do." He nodded towards the bag and Saiben slipped it into his pocket.

Shortly after that Kurota started to instruct Saiben on the nuances of glass blowing and Saiben slowly began to make some of the odd structures that he had seen Kurota making. As his skill grew so did the amount of money he was making until he had an amount that he was sure would carry him through the year easily, no matter what he ended up spending it on.

A week or so before they left, an order came for a glass sculpture. Kurota glanced at the invoice below it and tossed it onto a table and started to rub his temples, "These people have no concept of time."

Saiben picked up the description of the sculpture and when it needed to be done by, "Crap, have they never heard of 'foresight' before?"

"Yes, but they think money can counteract their lack of it." Kurota gestured at the piece of paper below it.

Saiben's jaw dropped, "Whoa, that's a lot of zeroes."

Kurota appeared not to have heard him, "I don't know if I'll do this one. I might not get it done and then I'm stuck with a big hunk of used glass."

"You have to try; you must have seen how big that commission was!"

Kurota focused his attention on Saiben, "Saiben, take a good look at me. What do you see?"

"What sort of answer are you looking for here? A pick-me-up, reality check, personal"

Saiben would have continued if Kurota hadn't interrupted him, "I'm an old man Saiben. I've been doing this for years!" Kurota snapped at him, "I could stop working today and live for another thirty years before money became an issue. I do this because I like it and the second it becomes about money I'd end up hating it. I would've thought you'd realize that."

"How long has it been since you had a challenge like this?" Saiben asked after he'd overcome a small bout of sheepishness.

"You have a valid point there." Kurota answered with a small smirk, "Fine, but if we miss the deadline it's on your head." Kurota got up and went out the back door. Saiben gulped before following.

Kurota led Saiben down to the beach where he asked Saiben to get a bag that was hanging from a tree branch. Saiben went to get it and gave him a curious look but Kurota didn't answer. When he had the bag he reached inside and took out a set of long metal poles that had metal balls on either end that were the size of a soccer balls. He dug a small hole in the ground, shoved the pole into it and buried the end in the sand. He told Saiben to stand back and he started going through a string of forms that Saiben had never seen before and suddenly threw his right hand forward and a bolt of lightning shot out and sunk into the metal pole. Saiben jumped back because the sand he was standing on became incredibly hot and when he looked back at the pole, it was implanted in a massive patch of glass!

"What _was _that?!" Saiben asked in awe.

"Lightning." Kurota answered nonchalantly.

"B-bu-but it was-!!"

"Lightning is the most pure form of energy which is also what fire is, unlike any other element, therefore lightning is a kind of fire." Once he was done saying this, he began cutting the massive chunk of glass into parts with small, intense beams of fire before he added, "I could use some help, you know." Saiben recovered from his shock immediately and began to help with the dissection of the behemoth piece of glass.

When it was about half way done, he could keep his silence no longer and asked, "Could you teach me how to do that?"

"At your current level, the only thing you'd do is make an explosion in front of you. At your current rate, the end of next summer would be the absolute earliest that I would even think about teaching you that. Besides this, it has no practical use either. The only other thing it's could for is killing, and I don't think you're going to need how to do that." Kurota ended the sentence with such finality in his voice that Saiben knew it was suicide to try and keep going.

A few days more and it was time to go. Saiben packed up his things and secreted his fat bag of coins from its hiding place from under the mattress and into his bag before Kodou saw it and started teasing him about having to support the family now that he was 'mister money-bags'.

Another fifteen minutes and everything was on the cart. Everyone had a rather stiff goodbye to Kurota. Saiben gave an awkward hug and was told 'not to forget everything' and then the Ostrich-Horse was given a little kick and they were off towards home.


	5. Pinnacle

Chapter Five: Pinnacle

When Saiben got back to the capitol he had a week before he was supposed to go to his new school. After Kurota had told him about his parents, though, he began to fall into the Jouku mind set far easier and that made hanging out with his friends nearly impossible because their every movement was taken in by him and analyzed to death. When this started to happen he shut it off as quickly as he could, though most of the time it was too late and he ended up walking away deep in thought, leaving them with a bewildered expression on their face.

All of them except Jouku. He seemed to know what was going on and Saiben noticed this as well and noticed that Jouku could guard his thoughts from the mindset so Saiben still couldn't tell what was going through his mind sometimes. Saiben was also forced to think that what he could tell could possibly be because Jouku wanted him to think them. He couldn't fathom why he might do this, but it left him wary around him, even though he didn't actually know why or want to be. Saiben eventually found something that let him stay out of the mindset: glass blowing. Once he realized this he started to try and teach his friends how to do it. He knew they wouldn't be able to do it since he had to concentrate so much that there was no room for the mindset. They didn't possess the skill to be able to accomplish anything, but he kept at it because it was the only way to be around them and not have it suck. He was forced to stop after awhile though because one of them heated the glass up to fast one day, even though it still wasn't hot enough, and made it shatter, cutting Saiben and a few others all over.

After the week was almost gone, Saiben had an idea worm itself into his head and he had to go and look for Jouku.

When he found him he started allowed the idea to pass out of him and into the open, "Why did give this to me?"

"You mean the mindset?"

"Don't joke around. You could tell as soon as you saw me, I know that at least. You were probably waiting for this to happen."

"To be quite honest, I didn't think I gave it to you at first. Then that stupid thing made me realize that I actually did. Once I knew that, I couldn't figure out why I had. I still don't."

"If you can't tell me that, then tell me what you know about it. You've had it long enough to figure out a lot about it."

"Heh, I wish. I don't even know what triggers it in the first place. I don't even know why it pops up more and more after the first time. I'll tell you something that seems to help me though, go over everything that happened during your day before you go to bed. It tends to help suppress it for some reason."

"I sort of figured that actually. It's easier to suppress if you're concentrating on something. That's why I kept pushing the glass blowing."­

"Part of that was obvious. I didn't know why you were pushing the glass blowing so much; I thought you might be trying to get others up to your level out of naiveté's. I couldn't really think that, knowing you had the mindset. The only other reason had to have something to do with the mindset"

"Just because I have it doesn't mean I have to pay attention to what it tells me."

"Why do we keep referring to the mindset as something that's not us?"

Although Saiben answered with, "I guess because it's something that we don't think is really natural." He realized a deflection when he saw one. True to Jouku' form though, he couldn't tell why to save his life. The conversation carried on though Saiben eventually lost interest. By the time that it was broken off Saiben realized that the only reason that they hadn't just talked turkey was something that approached etiquette when using the mindset. As soon as he thought that he filed it away before he started to analyze and his mood went to hell.

The night before Saiben had to go to his new school he realized that he didn't know where his classes were. After he had spent a good hour running through the house and ripping apart everything that might be connected with it when he caught Freg sniggering for half a second when he entered the room.

"'kay, were the heck did you stash the sheet?" As soon as he said this he slipped into the mindset and concentrated on Freg's face.

"What makes you think I had anything to do with this?" he asked, trying to look all innocence, but failing because of his smirk, "I just happen to think it's funny. I haven't seen you like this since I hid your frog weasel!"

"Same type of thing, only natural I think it's you. By the way, what are you reading?" As soon as he said this Freg's smile shrunk to a thin line and Saiben knew he had guessed right.

"Okay, you win. That was just freaky." At that he opened his police manual to a seemingly random section and took out a slim piece of paper and handed it Saiben, got up and walked out, shaking his head and muttering to himself. Saiben looked over the paper as he walked to his bed and started to think that maybe the thing he had wasn't such a curse as he thought it was. Saiben surprised himself that night by actually being able to sleep. Once again, the mindset came on and told him it was because with it he could see any problems the first day before they happened so it didn't really matter. After that dreamless sleep enveloped him and he wouldn't wake for anything in the world.

Saiben's eyes shot open the same speed a grin showed up on his face. He was ready to start to school. All the freedom of the summer had become more of a burden than anything else to him. He got out of bed and got halfway to the kitchen before he realized it was still dark outside and he was up way before anyone in his family would be. He decided he was wide awake now so it didn't matter. Since no one else was up he decided he would go to the market that was open since some ungodly hour of the morning along the piers of the giant harbour of the capitol's waterfront. He put on a red t-shirt with a pair of white pants that had turned brown from use and put on the sandals that he wore year around. He grabbed his jacket before he headed out the door. It was starting to get a little less than warm in the early mornings now. He got down to the harbour and bought some kind of toasted sandwich with the money he had gotten from Kurota and sat on the piers eating it until the sun came up and he realized his mom was probably freaking out about where he was. He scarfed down the rest of his food and ran home, then had to stop as his body couldn't multitask between digesting and running.

His mother wasn't in a frenzy like he thought she was going to be which concerned him a little bit. She was a worry wart so he thought that it was only natural for her to be panicking about something. She just said good morning and went about getting breakfast ready for the rest of the family. Saiben went up to his room and found a new set of clothes on his bed that were really flashy. The shirt almost looked like a standard dress shirt with the exception of it having red and yellow flames coming halfway up. The pants were plain black which made the whole thing seem more formal which suited Saiben just fine; he didn't like the shirt all too much.

His mom came in after a little while and handed him a note and started explaining what had been on Saiben's mind, "It was delivered two days ago. It's your school uniform. Now I know you're going to ask why I didn't give it to you then but the delivery man did a terrible number on it and I've been trying to get out all the wrinkles and make it look more presentable. And don't ask why there's only one. There's three of them plus another one for gym and bending class but they were in the same shape and I've been hard pressed to get them in wearable shape before you had to go."

"Mom, I wasn't going to ask any of those things, you should know me well enough by now to know that I don't notice what my clothes actually look like. Thanks for doing it though." He added when he saw her face change a little in the direction of irritation. After a short pause was between them he added with deliberate emphasis, "I'm going to change now."

"Oh, sorry!" and she scampered out of the room with a look on her face that Saiben had to call something between a juvenile form of excitement and great pride. He changed quickly because by now his time of freedom was running out. Once he changed he came back down-stairs amid Freg's many wolf whistles which made him glare with such ferocity that the wolf whistles actually stopped. His mom handed him his backpack which had a bag of fire flakes which he got the first day of every school year, and his gym and bending class clothes, then she smiled at him like she had never been prouder and ushered him out the door.

The walk to school was like any other day last year. He met up with Jouku where their two roads intersected and walked in silence along the road to the Fire Academy, their curiosity was the only thing that maintained the silence. They rounded a corner and almost stopped. They had refrained from seeing the school all summer for some unspoken reason and now that they saw it in all its grandeur they had a hard time taking it in. They had heard that it was a huge complex, but that was an understatement because it was easily one of the three biggest in the city, though still dwarfed by the palace.

The building looked like an old military building had been totally renovated by an artist with a more peaceful look in mind for it. The dark sweeping roof was now a much lighter red with the tips at the four corners now being used as places to hang the Fire Nation's flag, accompanied by their provincial one, the city's, and the school's coat of arms: one for each corner. The dark metal that had once made up the walls had been turned into brick and painted over to look bronze, which it did from most distances. The base of the building however had been left unchanged. It was now covered with giant murals that the art classes had done over the years.

Surrounding the whole thing was a bland looking chain link fence which all schools were required to have. The people that made that law had overlooked one thing though. It would cost a fortune to actually surround the whole school with it. That didn't stop them though. The only thing the art classes had been able to do to spice up the eyesore that surrounded the school looked like it was a joint effort. The chain link fence was broken along the path from the main entrance by two columns. Between the columns was an elaborate gate that was in the shape of a flame with tons of twisting metal running through it to catch the light and make it look like it was on fire. The whole thing, Saiben had to assume, was painted gold.

The gates were currently ajar, but they lost none of their splendour. Saiben and Jouku walked along the dusty path towards the main doors which remained firmly shut with a note attached to them that said 'All first years attending this school are to meet at the side of the school facing the harbour for home room assignment.' Jouku turned to Saiben who just shrugged and Saiben walked to the side of the school that he thought faced the harbour. The school was far enough in land that it was pretty easy to get disoriented.

Saiben and Jouku started to walk down the whole two kilometre building and got about s quarter of the way when Jouku voiced a worry that had been clawing at Saiben's mind from the second they had started to walk down this side, "Are you sure this is the right side?"

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure. I didn't see anything different on the other side of the place when we walked in. Besides, I bet we're still a bit early anyway." Then the bell rang.

Jouku gave Saiben a withering look that said 'Oh, great! Look what you've done!' Before they heard someone open a door a little ways down the wall. Just one person didn't come out though. A whole entourage of people filed out and when they were all done the lead one yelled at the top of his lungs, "All first years, over here please!!" With that done he stepped back and waited for everyone to come. The whole process was taking a little longer than Saiben would have thought because it took quite a while for everyone who went to the other side to make it to where they were supposed to be.

His gym teacher wasn't quite a mountain, more like a spire. Built like a box and extremely tall, he had the deepest voice Saiben had ever heard, "Okay, my name is Casson and since it's the first day and I'm a gym teacher, we're not doing anything. I'm going to go around and ask your name and something about you. I'll start with myself for sake of politeness: My name is Casson and I'm trying to prove that not all gym teachers are crazy, next."

He pointed to the first kid in line and continued down until he got to Saiben, "My name is Saiben and I want to know how many crazy gym teachers you know."

As soon as this was said Casson laughed which nearly shook the ground and answered, "I don't know any really crazy ones. I know some ex-con ones though!" He laughed and pointed to the kid behind Saiben as it became aware that he was joking. This prompted him to burst into laughter again, wiping a tear of mirth from his eye.

The rest of the day went by without something like Casson's laugh fit. Saiben didn't really like a couple of his teachers, but didn't want to get them mad on the first day. The school was a lot different from his old one because almost no homework was given, and the same amount was promised unless you asked for it. It seemed that most of the teachers believed that you should be in charge of your learning so they would only give you work if you thought you needed practice. They also guaranteed that if you needed it and didn't get it you would crash and burn.

When the time came for Saiben's last class he got some mixed feelings. Although his last class was bending, he knew he would be singled out because of the training that his grandpa had given him. Not that the training had been weird or anything, he just figured that he'd be way ahead of his class and that could lead to some touchy situations. He got to the rotunda at the front of the school which led out to the courtyard in the middle of the complex. That was where they would be having classes. The outside of the courtyard was their track with seats all around the side. The center was where the stage for bending was situated. When Saiben rounded the corner he was astonished to see that the class was seemingly taught by three teachers!

None of them said a word until the bell rang signalling that class had begun, "Alright, this is your first class in bending here so an explanation is in order: there are three teachers because of the way the class is set up. I am Firai sensei," said a non-descript man roughly 5' 7" with bland features, but a cheerful voice, "and I handle the main group of you when it comes to bending instruction. Iosovo," he said, pointing to the stickman on his left, who was average of height with wisps of grey in between his thinning black, "will be handling any of you who've had limited experience with bending. Finally, Yuan sensei," he said with a sweep of his arms in the direction of the only female teacher there, "Will be training this school's entrant into the bending tournaments."

After he said this, he gave her a quick look like he was afraid she might bite him. It wouldn't have surprised Saiben in the slightest, she looked deadly. She wore a black overcoat with blue flames coming up it over top of the regular Teacher's uniform. Her face was nicely curved but still managed to portray dominance and radiated fear onto the other teachers. It didn't help that she was about six and a hlaf feet tall, making her the tallest one there.

Saiben had just finished reading them all with the mindset which only took about a second or so when Firai began to talk again, "The bending tournament starts city wide. Schools enter a contender if they wish and the area that tournament is about continues to grow until its one from each of the three nations. We have come in second world wide three years now and would like to break that habit, so if you think that you might be up to the challenge after some training please go with Yuan sensei."

Once he was done talking only two people moved. Saiben went to stand in front of Yuan as well as another boy, fractionally taller than him with the face of a mouse and the body of an ox. As soon as the mention of the bending tournament had been said Saiben had set himself to be the schools representative. He wanted to see just how much more there was to learn. He wanted to believe that he knew next to nothing and that he could spend the rest of his life improving by learning. Something inside of him, though, told him that he'd have to resort to self-taught techniques at some point.

Yuan gave them both appraising looks then said, "Follow me." Her voice wasn't quite as scary as Saiben thought it would be but it still showed that she had absolute confidence in her abilities. Saiben and the other kid followed her out the entrance at the other side of the rotunda and out onto the field surrounding the school. They walked until they got to a patch of dirt where the grass seemed wary to grow.

There she stopped and turned to address them, "You both think that you're exceptional benders, but I only ever take one student. I just want you to spar here so I can see what you're both capable of. As soon as I've seen enough I will tell you stop, it's in your best interest to do so."

After that she walked out of the circle and Saiben and the other kid took their stances and began at a gesture from Yuan. The fight started off without great event and continued to be as such until the boy with the mouse face decided to kick it into high gear. He shot two streams of fire at Saiben which went right past either side of his head. Saiben didn't even flinch, he just stood there, he already knew what the mouse boy was going to do and he was already planning a counter attack of his own. After a second or two, the mouse boy transferred the two streams to one hand and continued to launch bursts of fire to keep Saiben pinned where he was.

The mouse boy, with his remaining hand made a fireball that grew larger with its core missing, so you could see all the way through it. Saiben knew what he what was going to happen next and the best counterattack he could think of didn't involve him doing anything just yet, though it irked him to just stand there. He chanced a look to the left and saw Yuan with a bemused expression on her face. She probably thought that Saiben was dead.

If he were to break through one of the streams of fire that were closing in on him, he would need to slow down and become absorbed enough in deflecting it that a serious blow could be landed on him, if he stayed where he was, there was a giant fireball headed for him and he knew that it would be easier for mouse boy to avoid anything Saiben fired at him because he could still see through his fireball.

Saiben waited patiently and began to concentrate, waiting for the perfect moment to act. As soon the mouse boy threw the fireball, Saiben launched a dart of white fire right through the whole in the middle. When it was at its center Saiben opened his hand and the dart expanded shredding the fireball into harmless pieces.

Saiben dashed forward and jumped straight into the dieing fireball, forcing the flames out of the way as he did so. He careened out of it launching a jet of fire out of his foot to compensate for the blast that was waiting for him on the other side of the ball. He guessed correctly and the blasts cancelled each other out. He landed on all fours and swung his foot along the ground, taking mouse boy's feet out from underneath him. Instead of falling like he had expected, mouse boy flipped during the fall and did a handspring to land behind him. As soon as he landed, a pillar of fire appeared in mouse boy's hand and when he slammed it into the ground it spread out in a wave. Without a choice, Saiben jumped over it knowing what waited for him. As he looked down he saw a wheel of fire ripping towards him like a wheel from hell. Without any other choice he produced a similar one, except that it was white instead of orange. His fire wheel cut through the orange like a knife through butter and would have pummelled mouse boy into the ground if Saiben hadn't turned it at the last possible second. He landed in front of the dazed mouse boy and just shoved him off balance and he fell out of the circle of dirt. The whole fight had only lasted a minute, but it left Saiben winded because of how much he had needed to concentrate on making the intense fire. He did his best not to show this though because he wanted his victory to seem absolute to Yuan. She was visibly smiling by the end of the fight, which contradicted her whole being and left Saiben hard pressed not to laugh. It was like scalpel with a smiley face on it.

She started towards the mouse boy, hoisted him onto his feet, and then turned to talk to Saiben, "I need to talk to you." Although her face was happy her voice was dead serious, "There's a lot I need to know about you if I'm going to train you."

Saiben somehow managed to keep a smile from his face and tried to reply in an equally serious tone that turned into a slightly stammered question, "Okay, now, after school, where?"

"Just follow me; the bell's going to ring in a couple minutes anyway."They turned away from the mouse boy, who was apparently still in his stupor, and began to walk away.

They had not gone three steps before he wheeled around and attacked yelling, "I won't lose to someone from a backwater school!" Saiben turned around and batted away the blast with the back of his hand. A slight slip with that move and his hand would be roasted. The mouse boy continued launching blasts and Saiben continued to deflect with a wave of his hand like they were moths. The mouse boy didn't notice that Saiben was walking towards him, so set was he on pummelling Saiben into the dirt with his blasts. Saiben eventually got close to him, deflected a last blast, grabbed both his hands, and used them to launch himself forward, kneeing him in the stomach. Yuan came over staring daggers at both of them but stopped when she saw the look of disgust that was showing Saiben's face.

"Only idiots think that clothes make the man." He muttered just loud enough for the mouse boy to hear, and then walked off intending to meet Yuan where the bending class had begun. She must have guessed where he'd be waiting and wasn't unsurprised to see her default frown on her face.

When she had gotten into earshot she started yelling, "Why did you do that?! You fractured two of his ribs!"

This threw Saiben who responded in a confused stammer, "T-two!? I didn't even do it that hard! He has to be faking it or something!" It was true too, Saiben didn't think he'd hit him hard enough to do anything other than incapacitate him.

"Calm down, you're not in trouble for it technically. It was classified as self defence since the fight was over and he was still trying to hit you. Why did you do that though? You were just batting the blasts like they were nothing. You didn't have to actually hurt him." Her face had changed from the frown to one that showed curiosity as well.

"Yeah, about that. Umm, I sort of have an 'overdeveloped morality' as one of my friends put it. He started saying that my old school was backwater and that got me heated up, and, yeah." He explained, wincing in the middle when her face changed to something that approached that strange smile again.

"You are really temperamental aren't you? You realize that were going to work on that in your training. It really starts to matter if you can hold a level head or not in the tournament." She added the last bit as a hint to refrain from anything like this happening again as well as to tell him he was going to be their entrant.

Something occurred to him though, "Why are you going to enter someone in their first year at the school? Wouldn't it be better to be someone in their last year?"

"Actually, that's sort of what we've been doing. We've entered the same girl for three years now and she graduated last year. She was able to beat people two grades ahead of her so when she graduated we decided to look in every grade for someone new. We found you. Assuming you'll be staying with us, we can train you for the next four tournaments and by the time you're in your last year you'll probably be ruling it. You have great potential, and by the time I'm done with you you'll be able to take on the whole school. Now then, my room is 152, be there at quarter after seven tomorrow so we can start." She said the bit about him taking on the school with such certainty that it made Saiben gulp. He had a feeling that practices were going to be gruelling. He wasn't about to give up so he just nodded and began the walk home, surprised that Jouku was waiting for him outside.

"What took you so long?"

"I'm going to be the school's entrant for the bending tournament. I'm surprised that Yuan didn't make us spar; the only other guy from our grade that tried out wasn't anywhere as good as us. I figured that I'd have to spar with you when I beat him!"

"I knew about it, I just didn't try out. It doesn't really interest me. Fighting in tournaments is best left to hot head like yourself."

"Just as well, there is no way you could beat me anyway."

"Do you honestly think I'm going to take some bait with so little effort put into it?"

"No. It's fun to taunt you though."

"Now you're getting there. In a month I might throw a punch at you."

"You were just giving me lessons on trash talking weren't you?"

"Maybe."

"Don't, you're terrible."

"I'm deeply hurt by that Saiben." and he feigned indignity.

"You could try to take it out on me." Saiben suggested.

"Keep trying, you'll get it someday." Jouku chuckled and turned down his street where the sun was already rolling down the roofs.


	6. Spreading the Shadows

Spreading the Shadows

Jericho was losing patience. It had been nearly a month now and the swift progress he was expecting was not there. A multitude of things had gone wrong on every level of the plan, nothing serious, but enough to slow things to a dead crawl sometimes and that made him angry. The plan had first become stuck in a mire when Jericho (and mainly his lieutenants he reminded himself) had forgotten to take into consideration when there would be parties. Not the kind where you stumbled away, reeling drunk, the dates of those never seemed to be forgotten. What he needed were the kind where you try to get more political power by climbing the social ladder. There weren't many in the fall which stopped him from helping his men find corruptible people in their designated areas. By attending these he would be harassed by hundreds of no bodies and would occasionally find one that was easily corruptible and who would suddenly be put in a position of power. Without that happening, things moved much slower because they were way more difficult to find.

His mood was also darker because Cordow had somehow found out about him taking the position of High Chancellor. At least his own part of the plan hadn't stopped moving. He had been chosen and since then had been helping the Fire Lord take a much more aggressive approach in dealing with the Earth Kingdom's ongoing lawsuits against the whole nation. These cases had always bemused Jericho. How could one person sue an entire Nation? They weren't even from the time of the war anymore! They were suing them because they had to live with people scarred by the war! With Jericho's help, the cases that would normally have been put into the courts with the full political power of the Earth Kingdom's behind them were now being dismissed.

After what seemed like an eternity, which was actually a month and a half, Jericho moved to the safe house closest to the palace and called for his lieutenants. Dorian, Lars, and Rorin were forced to sit in the front despite their obvious nervousness at being in Jericho's primary line of fire. Codran and Riley were sitting at the back trying not to smirk at the unfortunate predicament of the others. Everybody in the room knew that Jericho had a short fuse lately and didn't want to be in the area when he finally blew. Jericho wasn't as tempered as everyone thought he was, though he was a bit jumpier than normal. It just made it easier for them to take his commands when they thought he might kill them if he was a little testy.

He decided to torment them a little bit and act like he was tempered anyways, "Dorian," he said, a bit louder than he normally would which made the short muscled man jump a little, "You should have the secondary functions under your control by now shouldn't?"

"Y-yes and we-e almost d-do. The ed-d-ducation board is more moral than we first exp-pected.", was the stammered reply.

"Get that done before Tuesday or your poster is onto the other wall."

Still glaring at Dorian Jericho began to address Rorin, "Rorin, I assume that you got what I needed for the next phase besides the lovely position you already secured for me." What normally would have sounded like praise made Rorin's heart cry out like a funeral dirge.

"I managed to get something, on him. It's a bit rough, but I could have it fully sorted out by the end of the week."

Rorin's work was exemplary so Jericho moved on without a threat, "Finally we come to Lars. I assume that we're above the law now."

For once Lars smiled, which showed his rotting teeth which contrasted with his youthful face, "Yes actually. The force wasn't happy with their management. They made no objections when I _adjusted_ it. Even better then that though is that I now have under my command a relative of Saiben Hythen's."

Despite the shock of having someone else finding out about the plan and all the blank looks he was now getting Jericho controlled himself and responded, "Excellent! You can be expecting a visit from me soon so try to get your office in shape. I don't want anything like operation skunk-bat."

Jericho was very pleased with the last comment. He could tell who got the two meanings of the comment. Operation skunk-bat had seen Lars in an office that Jericho had sent his sub-ordinates to as punish mid operation. The room smelled like a skunk-bat den. The second meaning mainly came from the 'expect a visit from me very soon'. That told Lars his days were numbered. If anyone caught the second meaning they were looking at Lars now like he was filet mignon.

Just as before, Jericho dismissed everyone else before calling Riley and Codran over, "Why did you let Lars in on our little _secret_?" The sentence dripped malice.

Codran and Riley looked at each other before responding and Jericho could tell they weren't lying, "Neither of us told him anything. We don't have any idea how he found out." Codran's voice was sincere though you could see that he was ready to run if Jericho snapped.

"Okay, Riley, take the Fire Ants to his office. I want his ashes scattered over the city by morning."

Riley bowed low, "How do think so little of me? It'll be done by nightfall!" With that he turned around and walked outside to call his squad together. Jericho made a mental note to keep an eye on him. If he had the gall to do something like that he might actually get presumptuous enough to try something.

With mental note tucked away he turned to Codran, "Have you been keeping tabs on him?"

"Yes, he is his school's entrant for the bending tournament."

"Bring him in quickly, if he leaves the city he'll be harder to capture. I'm changing your orders slightly too. Use the Fire Ants against him. If he is his schools entrant then he already is highly skilled. You'll need him running scared if you'll actually be able to bring him in."

"We have actually been able to contact the person you mentioned from the black list. We probably won't even have to use the Fire Ants to throw him off. If we use the Fire Ants there'll still be a chance that you'll get him in pieces."

"You better pray I don't. You're dismissed; go make sure Riley doesn't get all the fun to himself."

As soon as Codran left Jericho turned back to the fire pit and sat down cross legged on the floor. There was one way that they could use the Fire Ants that didn't have the chance of killing Saiben. They would have to find it or they wouldn't dare to go after him. It wasn't like the idea was that complicated anyway, especially if Codran was as good as his reputation suggested. He was the only one of Jericho's lieutenants that he would go to for advice, specifically on psychological warfare. It was for that reason that he was still more worried about him than Riley. Riley just had a whole lot of social poise and was bright overall. Because he wasn't really good at anything specifically he was less of a threat.

The meeting had been early in the morning, despite this, Jericho felt drained for some reason. He contented himself with going to all the minor government functions and confirming what Dorian had said. There were a few places where there wasn't completely control, but by the time Jericho had left he had a good idea of how to get it. He went to his office and began to fill out all the paper work that had gathered on his desk. When that was done he found out where a few families lived. Any of the people that had been stupid enough to oppose him would be short a couple people at their dinner table shortly.­

He tried to call Lars which just made Riley and Codran show up with their hands a slightly brighter shade of red than they would be normally. They left with the addresses and a rather beleaguered look came over them. Jericho had to keep them from becoming to stationary. If they were still for too long they would puzzle out the details of his plan which would give them something to hang over his head. As it was now, they stood to gain more from keeping quiet, so that's what they did.

--

The next day Jericho resigned himself to confirming the takeover of the population control board. One of the limits that had been placed on the Fire Nation when the war ended was a population cap. This was to stop them from having the man power to start another war. A third child lottery was held for any couple that applied. They waited for a year then held the lottery to compensate for any deaths that weren't the cause of age. There weren't too many of those so any couples chances of winning were limited. It was also through this that the luck of the whole nation was being slowly focused into certain pockets of people.

As Jericho walked to the drab building he went through all that in his head and hated every detail of it. The way it had been set up it was made for bureaucrats. He hated them. Even if you had them in the palm of your hand they had you filling out forms for the rest of your days. The remaining nations had probably done that to slow any takeovers. It didn't stop Fallen Fire though. Jericho pushed the front door open and walked in.

Stopping at the front desk to ask directions from secretary with her red glasses and orange shirt, they had only color in the whole room, "Excuse me, could you tell me where the Director's office is. I have an appointment with him."

"Certainly, down the hall to my right, second set of stairs, third floor, second set of doors, and then fourth one on the right."

Jericho nodded his thanks trying to remember it all. Why didn't the twit just have it on the top floor somewhere easy to locate? He sighed to himself as he began what he expected to be the long trek to the Director's office. It wasn't quite as long as he thought it was going to be, but he was sure he gotten lost a couple of times since the whole building seemed to repeat itself no matter where you were. He eventually came to the door he was pretty sure was the directors and knocked with enough force to set the frosted glass above the door knob rattling loudly. The door swung open and standing in it was the weirdest looking human Jericho had ever seen. He was very short with a huge stoop and his hair shot out of his head only in a perfect line around his skull so it looked like he was wearing something that approached a sombrero. This left the crown of his head far more tanned than the bottom. Both his eyes had different sized irises which made him look cock-eyed no matter what he did.

Despite the shocking image that had greeted him, Jericho managed to hold out his hand and greet him, "Good day Director, I'm High Chancellor Goneril."

"Please to meet you, please call me Diaron." Was the director's response, along with a powerful handshake that surprised Jericho, almost as much as the perfect Baritone that came out of the carnie-look-alike's mouth. There was nothing Jericho could do to hide the surprise that came onto his face, but Diaron had already turned around again and Jericho quickly looked around the room to see if there were any other surprises waiting for him. There was a vase of flowers on a pedestal that had the most strange looking flowers in them, his desk had a tacky old lamp sitting off to one side of it, and there was box in one corner that was wrapped up to look like a present.

"Now, am I to understand that I will be receiving some more of these," he gestured at the wrapped box in the corner, "if I do a few favours for you?"

"Eh, yes, you will." Jericho had no idea what the box was but he knew it was something good if it got past all the bureaucratic downers. ­

"Right then, I don't see there being any point in this meeting going on any longer, have a good day."

"Agreed, good day to you." And Jericho turned around with the intent to leave and caught sight of what was probably in the box. Hidden behind the vase of flowers were numerous bottles of pills, an assortment of creams and numerous other items of the same variety. He immediately figured what was making this weirdo do what they said. Rorin probably had him taking tons of placebos to make it look like they were trying to fix his physical appearance. This puzzled Jericho because generally when you look like that you resign yourself to the fact. Diaron apparently hadn't which was very lucky. It was very difficult to control a crazy. Jericho smiled to himself as he left, there was still more than enough time left to check up on the police station before boredom set in for the lack of action in his days.

'If I'm lucky, I'll have some intimidating to do there.' Was one of his first thoughts on the subject. He had to be honest with himself though, intimidation wasn't very entertaining at all. At least when he fought someone they would realize that they were screwed and that usually made things more interesting. Dead men have a habit of surprising you. Halfway there he remembered that Lars had mentioned that there was someone in the force that knew Saiben. Once he got there he would have to meet him.

--

Koudo did not feel like playing the jester today. His mood had been wrecked ever since that Lars guy had come in here a few days ago with orders from some secluded branch of the monarchy to reshuffle management. It was a strange coincidence that everyone that Koudo wasn't too sure about had gotten promoted and the upper management had been 'reassigned' elsewhere. Koudo may have been an elite prankster, but that stopped as soon as people had the potential to be hurt, it was his primary reason for joining the force in the first place. Now he was being directed by the people he hadn't been too sure of walking the high road. To top it all off, he had been instructed to report to a superior of the shifty man that had wrecked the force. He had long since decided that he wasn't going to cooperate with whatever this man might turn out to be like. He was also determined to use the switched last name to his advantage. His family had originally taken his mother's name which was associated with Kurota immediately. They were disturbed too much so they switched to his father's last name. Koudo had since then decided to use his mother's name in the police force. A nice coincidence that meant his relation to his family could be interpreted a few different ways.

When the time he came he walked into what would normally be his captain's office he was greeted by what couldn't be, but was, the High Chancellor. The man smiled at him with what most would call a welcoming smile. Years of pranks had let Koudo be able to read people a little better than normal and he could see the man was wearing a mask, though he couldn't tell what it was hiding. That in itself unsettled him.

"Take a seat, Koudo Toicho?" Jericho paused mid sentence to look at a sheet on the desk. It was clearly an unnecessary action.

"I understand that you know the Hythen family." Koudo suspicion meter was in the orange.

"Yeah, I do." He replied, trying to look like he was a little curious as to why.

"Well, as unfortunate as it is, there kid, Saiben, is on a government watch list as a possible shadow organization member." Suspicion meter in the red, initiate lying barrage!

"It wouldn't surprise me at all. That kid gets called down to the principal's office nearly daily for all the fights he gets into. Doesn't help he doesn't show any respect to any of his elders." It was time for Jericho's suspicion meter to jump into the red. This guy knew Saiben well because there was no way you could get that confused about him.

"Well, we're going to be starting a campaign to bring numerous suspects on the black lists and I wanted to know if you knew anything. You realize of course that everyone else will be briefed a little later." ­

'Oh crap' was all Koudo could think, 'I've overplayed my hand', "Well, I played a few jokes on him, but that's no reason to start hate'n me is it? I mean, our families have known each other awhile but that just doesn't seem to matter to him!" Koudo had switched into recovery mode. He was praying that Jericho would take the bait and think him an ignorant person who just liked to torment a little kid.

He saw Jericho relax a fraction and began to think of what to do next, only to have his thoughts scattered by Jericho saying something, "Well all that adds up. We plan to start at sunset so you should be able to have dinner before we start. No sense doing anything on an empty stomach?"

"Goin' to have to agree with you on that one your chancellorship." Jericho motioned for him to leave and Koudo did so calmly. As soon as he was outside the door he sprinted down the hall way as fast as he could, didn't even bother punching out, and ran home ignoring the cramps in his side that would normally force athletes to stop.

He practically blew the front door off its hinges and yelled as he thundered through the door, "Where's Saiben?!"

"Still at bending practice." said his father non-challantly, "Why, did he finally get you back?" But Koudo was already out the door and headed towards the Fire Academy as fast as his legs would carry him.

---

Jericho wasn't all together pleased with how the meeting had gone. He couldn't quite tell if Koudo had been hiding something. In any case, he left and began to walk towards the closest safe house. When he arrived he acquired a sense of urgency and he called all his lieutenants together once more.

"Okay, I know this is a bit ahead of schedule but we're commencing operation 'Cinder'. From now on you are the Fire Nation's Special Forces and will be aiding the police force to track yourselves down. You will of course not find anything. Before you go to the police station to hook up with your assigned units, hit your targets hard." They all knew what he was talking about. Numerous branches of the government had been left alone so they could be used to frame the Avatar as being one of them. Jericho motioned for them to leave and they all filed out sombrely.

Codran and Riley remained for their normal special instructions, "You better be ready for this. I want this done quickly and quietly. Grab a few of the regular cell grunts for the first strike. Who knows, you could get lucky." Codran nodded without expression and Riley with his default smirk showing that he was enjoying every second of this. Unlike the rest of the cell they ran out and immediately sprinted off. The third stage was in being enacted and Jericho wasn't about to let himself sit back, he had an appointment to keep with the Fire Lord.


	7. Preperation

Chapter Seven: Preparation

Coron was almost done his training. Argent had him going through every form, kata, and technique known to man for the past fifteen years. Argent wanted to be sure that this eight year old could fend for himself once he left the spirit world. Coron had tried before to get Argent to teach him how to leave, but Argent just deflected the question and got Coron training again. Argent couldn't seem to realize that Coron had been there fifteen years and had matured over that time. True, he hadn't grown an inch, but he had found his communal animal. It turned out, much to Argent's dismay, to be a badger mole. This made it almost impossible to check on Coron's body. The first time they tried, the badger mole had dug up half the cemetery trying to find Coron's body. That had led to the undertaker driving spikes all through the ground to try and stop him. They now had to go deep underground and work their way up until they found Coron's body. Once they had they kept a weekly tab on the graveyard to make sure nothing happened to it. It was also thanks to the badger mole that they discovered something very drastic about Coron. Although Coron could use the body of the badger mole, he couldn't go to the mortal plane as it. This led Argent into a long series of rambling which could be simplified as this: Coron was no longer the avatar which meant that the avatar spirit shared the body of whoever became the avatar.

Coron had just gotten through the last of his training for the day, though he couldn't be sure, (It was always hard to tell when it was night time here) when a question popped into his head, "Hey Argent? Will my body have aged in the grave?"

Argent's face took on a surprised look before he answered, "I don't know. With what we found out about the avatar spirit it might still be an eight year olds body because you're not in it anymore. On the other hand it might have aged dramatically because nothing is inside of it anymore."

"You mean I could come back as a creaky old man without a hair on his head!?"

"It is quite possible. On the other hand, those are the two extremes. Anything in between them could have happened. It might have even aged exactly as it would have had you been alive for all we know. You might not even be able to enter it again you've been out so long."

"And whose fault is that?" Coron growled.

"Hey, don't be ungrateful! If I taught you how to go back quickly you wouldn't have even be able to get out of the grave!"

"But you taught me that nearly a decade ago!"

"You never finished school either, you couldn't go get a job, and you wouldn't be able to get food or get a place to sleep."

"One, I've been sleeping on a rock for the past decade and a half. Two, you taught me what plants are good to eat, which are bad, and hundreds of other properties. Third, we decided the third year I was here that I'd go to find the new avatar and help him out with his training."

"We did? Guess my memory isn't as good as it used to be. Age does that to you!"

"You don't age here!" Coron was yelling as loudly as he could which didn't seem to faze Argent at all, "And don't deflect what I've been trying to tell you for years: I need to go back!"

Argent heaved a sigh, "All right. The only reason I haven't taught you how to go back is for you own protection. Without a spirit guide or the avatar spirit the only thing that can lend you the power to go 

back is Nersh Ming, the spirit of life. She might try to take your spirit since he has been extremely weak for some time. No one here can figure out why though. The current theory is that it's just the population of the world is growing and that it's finally getting to her."

"You know, you could have told me what you were doing. If we were just waiting for that spirit to get weaker I wouldn't have kept asking you."

"Yeah, that's exactly what I was doing." Although Argent just blew his cover and told Coron that wasn't his actual reason, Coron didn't press him. It had become obvious to Coron some time ago that what he thought of Argent was the ageless man's whole world. This was the main reason that Coron had continued to play dumb in some situations so Argent wouldn't feel bad by how much Coron outstripped in some areas.

Over the past fifteen years Argent had distracted Coron with all the training so he could find a way for him to go back. As far as he knew, the only two ways you could go into the spirit world and leave were impossible for Coron so he had spent all that time looking for a third way. He initially had started to find ways to magnify Coron's spirit and gave up after a few years into it because it was too risky. It was about a year ago that the idea had hit Argent to use some of the actual spirit's power. There were only two which might have the authority to do this though and that was the spirit of Life or of Death. After a little research it became blatantly clear they would have to ask Nersh Ming because anyone who asked Syh Shen (death, just for the record) paid a terrible price. Nersh Ming had been far more caring in the past, but that didn't mean you could drop your guard. The weaker she got, the more desperate she became for the little fragments she gave to make a mortal life. Argent had been gauging for a long time when it would be best to try and send Coron back and he thought now would be the best chance they got.

Argent decided to tell Coron how to get to Nersh Ming a few hours after the argument, "Okay, you're sure you want to leave?"

"YesI'msure!" Coron blurted out, a smile cracking the mask of concentration he was wearing second before.

"Okay, I'm going to help you find the opening back into the swamp first."

"Wait, you mean I was that close to a way back when I first came here!"

"Yes, but I hadn't thought of it then. After that we'll have to call Gredeer so she can show you to the right way out."

"Wait, aren't you going to help me get back?"

"The area where Nersh Ming lives is very close to the mortal world. The closer I get to it, the more I feel the pain of my body. You'll be able to tell when you're getting close because you'll begin to feel what made you go here in the first place."

"You mean I have to taste that agni damned medicine again!" Normally Coron would watch what he said around Argent, but in all the years he had spent here the taste of that vile medicine had never fully left his mouth. The mere thought of having to taste it again made Coron wondered if staying here was so bad. His mind was set though and he followed Argent, ignoring the disproving looks he gave him for his language.

Coron quickly lost himself to the monotony of the walk and almost banged his head on the edge of the tunnel as the ceiling came lower and lower. When they came out Coron didn't raise his head up fast enough and crawled into the back of Argent's legs, knocking him over. Coron muttered an apology which never made out of his throat. Where the swamp used to be there was nothing. The once clear 

water was black sludge, the trees had withered and died and the stones were covered with a putrid slime that tainted the air with a noxious smell, and there amidst it all was Gredeer pinned to a tree with a sword through her.


	8. Fuel For the Ember

Chapter Eight: Fuel for the Ember

Saiben was in a good mood. Bending practice had gone better than he had expected. Besides Yuan making him go to all his classes while trying to keep a fireball in his hand, the rest of the day had gone by without a hitch. Keeping the fireball up all day had left his hand aching though. He had gotten through all the advanced katas in the practice and had left for home by taking the scenic route through one of the city's markets, with all its aromas making his mouth water as he walked through it.

Kodou vaulted over the chain link fence that surrounded Saiben's school like it wasn't there and felt his stomach drop out from underneath him. There was a column of smoke coming from the center of the building. He dashed into the building, ignoring the signs telling him to stop at the main office first. He ran around the first flight of stairs that rose out of the middle of the rotunda and almost crashed through the glass door that led to field in the middle of the school. Standing in the middle of the sparring stage was a woman dressed in black with blue flames on her overcoat.

"Where is he!?" Kodou was mad now and he didn't really care about how scary she was. All he knew was that she was responsible for Saiben's disappearance.

She turned around, saw his uniform and threw her hands up and acquired a surprised look on her face, "I don't know what you're talking about." She said calmly, though there was a slightly nervous tone in her voice that just didn't belong there.

"Why are the police after my brother, and why the agni is the monarchy _helping _them?!"

"What?!" Yuan stood up, now fully alert, "I'm not who you think I am. I'm Saiben's bending teacher and what are you talking about?!"

"I'm his brother and our station just got paid a visit from the High Chancellor who told me that my brother was on the government's black list." Kodou's voice was now dead serious and he was starting to lose it. This was the sort of thing that could really screw the whole nation over. "Look, I know you haven't known him for that long, but there is absolutely no reason that the government would be after him."

"I know. His personality is really loud, even if he isn't most of the time." Yuan was sizing Kodou up because she had a feeling that they were coming to the same conclusions while they were talking. Something had happened in the upper echelons and pretty soon chaos was going to reign. That much was evident from the police actually being told that the monarchy wanted them to help shorten the black list. They needed to get Saiben out of the thick of it because he was partly the cause of it though neither of them knew why.

Kodou smiled, "Watch his back for me. I'll head back and see what the agni is going on around here. I'll get the info to you if I can. Don't let him get caught, or yourself for that matter."

"Do I like stupid? We're wasting time here anyway, get going!"

Kodou didn't need to be prompted; he turned on his heel and was out of the school before you could say crazy fire lord. Yuan headed to her room calmly, sorting out what had happened. She wasn't going to charge into a sensitive situation. She got to her room and grabbed some anti-heat salve, and other things that she thought she would need. She slipped them into the pockets on the inside of her coat and ran out of the school as fast as she could go, but before she got to the front gate though she turned around and headed back in. Saiben hadn't left that long ago so if she got a higher view she might be able to see him. She got to the top of the closest tower and swung herself onto the roof and pulled out a small pair of binoculars and started to scan all the roads around the school. Eventually, she spotted his head of dark red hair and climbed down and ran to where she had seen him. She eventually caught up with him but kept herself in the alleys around him. No reason to giveaway her element of surprise. She watched and waited for when Saiben would need her help.

Saiben was nearly home when all the good feelings of the day vanished like smoke on the wind. He'd turned down a side street and gotten a few steps along it when a wall of flame had burst up behind him and seven men had appeared on the roofs on either side of him. Two more appeared out of a column of smoke a little further down the road. Saiben immediately began scrutinizing them. They wore almost all black with body armour just visible underneath it. The collars on their shirts had been flipped up and blocked their mouth and some of their nose from view. Each of them had a red band tied around one of their arms and the two at the end of the street had to be the leaders because of the golden flames on their bands.

The two leaders walked from the end of the street until they were a few paces from Saiben and then the taller of the two started to speak, "Saiben Hythen?" It was asked like a question but Saiben could tell he already knew who he was. They wouldn't box him into a street like this unless they were sure it was him. Why him anyway?

"Yes, can you tell me who you are?"

"We're the Fire Nations special forces, technically speaking."

The man's voice held an edge and Saiben decided to take the bait, "And unofficially?"

"We're members of a special interest group called Fallen Fire. The High Chancellor is one as well and he has taken a liking to you. He is willing to offer you a membership for our little group."

Saiben's mind was sending off signals everywhere, there didn't seem to be a way out anywhere, the only thing he could do was try to keep them talking so he could try to find a way out, "And just what would the special interests of this group be?"

The leader seemed to realize what he was doing and started to get irritated, "Look kid, it's really not that difficult of a choice. Either you come with us or you end up rotting in the prison cells under the palace 'till you wither away to nothing."

"You didn't answer me." Saiben's voice was quite and he tried to make it carry a lethal note.

The other leader shrugged before he answered, "Pro Fire Nation views mostly. We're a fairly big organization so it's not like you're going to be in seclusion the rest of your life."

Now it was Saiben's turn to get irritated, "Look, do yourself a favour and cut the crap. You're one of those weak little shadow organizations that are just an excuse for their members to get away from their families, cry about how unfair the world is and drink 'till you pass out. Thanks but no thanks."

The air seemed to go up a couple of degrees before a response came, "You have no idea how over your head you are."

The other leader stepped out from behind the other and charged at Saiben with blinding speed. If Saiben had so much as thought about blinking at that moment he would have been sent flying by the force of the punch, as it was though he managed to side step and tripped the man as he flew by. Before he knew what was happening the other seven had encircled him and he had the two leaders on either side of him.

"Sure you won't change your mind?" One said, the sadistic smile obvious even if the mouth wasn't.

"I'm underage so I couldn't drink anyway."

It was clear who the more emotional of the two was. The one in front of him had his face contorted by rage. The one behind just frowned. They charged in tandem, pumping fireballs out as they went. Saiben dropped into a crouch and swung around, sending a ring of fire around him. As soon as the move was done he kicked off the ground and with the last touch his hands had with the ground he twisted them making him spin. He lashed out with his legs and got a satisfying crack as both his feet connected with the head of the two leaders who had jumped to avoid the fire ring. The landed in a heap, one of them crashing into one of the men surrounding him when landed.

One managed to heave himself up, "Okay, get him. Jericho wants the avatar so that's what he's getting."

An 'oh shit!' was added when Saiben's eyes went round. The men around him took advantage of his shock and started to move in on him. By the time he recovered he would be too late to do anything. Fortunately for him, it was at that particular moment Yuan came out of hiding and sent powerful bursts of fire into the chests of the two closest cell members, melting parts of their armour and burning their skin terribly underneath it. The other five snapped around to see their new attacker. Another two went down before they could register anything in their vision. One of the remaining three charged at her. She spun around him and continued with one of her feet, sweeping his legs out from underneath him. She took a step forward as he fell and slammed her knee into the middle of his back which produced a loud crack. She grabbed the dead man's feet before he fell off her knee and spun around launching his whole body like a human torpedo at the nearest of the remaining two. The remaining cell member tried to launch a stream of fire at her which she cut through and sent him flying backwards with a stream of her own. He was out before he hit the ground.

Now that the fight was over she took a look around. Saiben was starting to come out of his stupor, focusing on the seven bodies lying on the ground.

"Damn, Saiben did you see where those other two went? Hey...Saiben!" She gave him a light slap on the face which made him come crashing fully back to reality like a sack of bricks.

"Oh... No I didn't."

"What the heck were you doing?! You took out the two tough ones like they were like they were cream puffs, then you just went off into another world!"

"I'm the avatar." Saiben wasn't really talking to her anymore. It was more of dreamy statement, like he expected to wake up any second now and start laughing about how silly the dream had been.

"They were obviously lying. The last avatar was from the Water Tribes, which makes the next one from the Earth Kingdoms. It doesn't really matter though. They think that you are and that's what matters. You need to get of the country because they somehow have infiltrated the monarchy and that means that as long as you're in the Fire Nation they can get you."

"No, I'm not leaving. If I can get an audience with the Fire Lord, I can clear this whole thing up!"

"Look, I realize you have a pride for your country but don't be stupid. If the Fire Lord hasn't found out about this yet, then he's being blindsided and you'll never get close to him."

"Your forgetting one thing: I'm the avatar."

"NO, you're...okay, but this is a text book suicide mission because we still have two of those loons out there and I can guarantee they're going for reinforcements."

"We'll just have to be quick then won't we?"

"Okay, but if there is even a hint that we're walking into a trap, we're skipping town."

"Deal, by the way, what's your first name?"

"What?"

"Well, we're both convicts now, so I figure the social hierarchy doesn't apply to me anymore. It's also kind of a hobby of mind to try and find out all my teachers names."

"You realize this isn't the ideal time for this?"

"Yeah, but we have a little break for now so I thought I'd ask."

"My name's Seizu, now get going, you sloth-snail!" Saiben's levity made her shake her head in disbelief as he turned his back to her.

Codran and Riley were still jogging through back alleys, making for a safe house. Their whole body hurt and Codran's jaw was busted beyond all repair. They hadn't counted on Saiben actually being able to fight better than they could. They now had to get to a safe house so they could call the Fire Ants. Neither of them cared if Saiben survived or not. The only thing that kept them from just sicking the Fire Ants on him was the knowledge that Jericho could get rid of them with a wave of his hand they were so weak right now.

They made it to the safe and immediately called the Fire Ants. Riley was forced to give the orders as Codran's jaw squirted blood at a sickening level if so he much as tried to form a syllable. The mere sight of the shape the two were in lit the Fire Ant's blood on fire. Whoever they were going after was good which meant they might actually get a challenge for once.


	9. Branded

Chapter Nine: Branded

Even though Saiben had somehow convinced Seizu to let him try to clear his name, he knew the chances of actually pulling it off were slim. For Fallen Fire to move around like they ruled the city showed that they were high up in the monarchy, certainly not the Fire Lord or else things would be a _lot _worse. Saiben was just hoping he could get to the Fire Lord before things really spiralled out of control.

They kept to the alleys and on more than one occasion they were forced to dive into some unpleasant places because one of the numerous search parties crossed their path. As they got nearer the palace the search grid seemed to intensify and they were forced far more often to actually sneak through a window and into someone's house. Fortunately, they were never discovered. On one of their closest shaves they were forced to crawl through a low window and into someone's wine cellar. As they waited for the party to pass a growing sense of dread stole over them as one set of feet stopped outside. With no other option Saiben crept as close to the window as he could, shot his hand out and grabbed the man and dragged him through the window. What he saw nearly made him burst out laughing. Kodou was lying prone on the floor with his whole uniform dishevelled.

"You know, you could have just asked me to come down here." Was the grumpy hello they received.

"Well sorry. We couldn't just climb out and ask if it was you. What are you doing here anyways?"

Before Kodou could say anything Seizu started into her own explanation, "As soon as he found out that that group was after you he charged into the school and started accusing me of abducting you. After that I managed to calm him down and he explained what was going on. The shadow organization named Fallen Fire is after you, as you already know. Oh, and by the way Kodou, they think he's the avatar."

"Have you been showing off at school Saiben?" Kodou asked with a smirk.

"You know me better than that, besides, this isn't exactly the ideal situation for your levity."

"Guess you're right there. Actually I've been trying to find you. Fallen Fire is posing as our country's special forces. They've also attacked a ton of government targets and they're saying that you're one of them Saiben! I had the few guys who aren't crooked in the force hide our family somewhere safe because there are already angry mobs roaming around looking for our family, or you. You still might have a chance though. If you turn yourself in, I can get the few guys that are still loyal to the country make you disappear. Once that's done you can start to figure out what the agni happened today and try to set the record straight."

"That won't work Kodou. If you try that, you're using what they live for. They'll be able to out play you at it and things'll just end up worse than they are now. They're high up too so turning myself in would be suicide. I'd rather stick to fighting them in the street if it's all the same to you."

"Saiben, you can't honestly think you can compete with these guys. They act as bounty hunters and have brought in some of the most dangerous criminals on our records."

Seizu jumped in before Kodou saw Saiben roll his eyes, "Actually, Saiben already took out two of their higher ups I thinks. They acted like they were anyway."

"You have got to be kidding me. How can you be able to beat them?"

"Did you not notice that I disappeared for awhile at Grandpa's cottage? He was training me all summer!"

"Huh, you mean that's why you got the huge sack of cash?"

"Yeah, I worked enough to earn it."

"Well good luck then. Where are you heading now anyways...moneybags?"

Saiben flinched when the name was added, "We were trying to get to the palace and explain things to the Fire Lord. Things aren't quite bad enough for them to have gotten to him."

"Okay, I'll see if I can get in there and give you some back up if things go badly, no promises though. I'm going to have to use some pretty outrageous excuses to get in."

"Please, you have how many years of experience under your belt? If you can't get in that's pretty pathetic."

"Yeah, yeah. Just get going and don't try anything stupid." Kodou turned around and pulled himself through the window and started to run to catch up with the search party he was part of. As soon as they had rounded the corner Saiben and Seizu climbed out and started to head towards the palace again. The only problem was that the closer to it they got the fewer alleys there were because all the state houses started to get more land around them.

It was when they were crossing one of the bigger lawns that Riley was able to spot them, "Well what do ya know? You called it right Codran!"

It took Codran a minute to respond. Soon after Saiben had broken his jaw he had started to write what he wanted to say on little notepad. Once it was done he tore off the top and passed it Riley. Instead of reading it Riley just crumpled it up and put it in his pocket.

"There's no sense in wasting any more time here. Let's teach that kid why he shouldn't have messed with us!" Riley and Codran jumped off the roof they had been keeping watch from and ran to head off Saiben and Seizu. While they were running Riley took out a whistle and blew into it hard. It was hard to actually use the whistle because of his broken jaw; he decided he would have to change the signal to a simple flare after this. Saiben and Seizu heard the whistle and stopped running, and tried to pin point the source of the noise. Moments later Riley and Codran walked calmly into view.

As soon as Saiben saw them a groan escaped him. The fact that the same people were standing in front of him meant that they had probably walked into a trap, so he had to keep them talking until he figured out what it was. Unfortunately, that was exactly what Riley had to do also because it would take a little time for the Fire Ants to get there.

"Did I not beat you two bad enough last time?" Saiben had already started wasting the time he had to escape.

"That was just to gauge your strength. You won't get away this time!"

"How do you figure? I took out three of you and didn't break a sweat, and just to let you know, I wasn't trying at all back there."

"I can guarantee you're going to have to now." As soon as Riley had said that he and Codran backed off a little as six sheets of red fell out of the sky. They were dressed in the same outfit as Riley and Codran were but theirs were crimson all over and their faces were painted to look like they were wearing the old army helmets. Saiben had been intent on keeping them talking even after he realized that he and Seizu should have just run.

He had intended on pointing out that they weren't wearing gloves to protect their hands for some reason but the Fire Ants didn't like to talk and charged as soon as Riley said, "Have fun!" in a mocking tone. As soon as the fight started Saiben found out why they didn't wear gloves. Their hands were generating heat like they were on fire.

As he continued to try and dodge all the punches that were being thrown at him he heard Seizu yell at him from somewhere close, "They're using the burning hand technique! Don't get hit by it or else you're finished." Saiben couldn't actually see where she was though; his whole world was filled with red bodies and flying fists. Saiben continued to barely dodge all the attacks and eventually saw an opening. He shot the most intense fire blast he could muster and shot it right at the closest one to him. It connected with the body at the very center of the chest and sent the Fire Ant flying backward. As soon as the body landed though it rose again almost like it was controlled by strings and charged back into the fray with twice as much ferocity as it had before.

As the fight continued Saiben started to realize the way the Fire Ants fought. The longer the fight dragged on the less the Fire Ants guarded themselves. Although this gave Saiben more openings, it made their fighting even more intense. Soon he found himself forced to start backing up because even though he was successfully deflecting the blows, they still had enough force to push him back. Moments after that his back touched the side of the house they were fighting near. He knew he had to get away from there or else there was no way for him to escape or even to keep the advantage he had for range. The next punch that was thrown, Saiben deflected and grabbed the arm. He used it to pull himself toward his attacker and proceeded to use the shoulder as a springboard and vault over the other three that they were chasing him. This, unfortunately, put him right next to Seizu. Now they had to contend with all six of the Fire Ants at once.

"You haven't taken out a single one!?" He managed to shout to her between wildly dodging the numerous attacks.

"Look who's talking!" Was the hoarse reply that came moments later.

"I should have taken one out! I blasted him full in the chest but he just got right back up!"

"Eh, Saiben, these are all girls."

Whoever handled karma decided to have a good laugh just then as Saiben was hitting one in the chest when Seizu informed him of their gender. This made him recoil but by then the damage was done anyway and his split second of hesitation had him getting hit in the head by one of them.

Until that moment he had though that he held up well under pain. He hadn't cried when he tripped when he was little, and he'd help up well when he'd broken his arm a few years ago. This wasn't like that at all though. The sheer force of the blow threw him out of the circle like a rag doll. As he hit the ground he rolled and got back up, no longer aware of where he was. He knew he was bleeding and started to wonder why it had only hurt excruciatingly badly for the moment he got hit. It came to him that the endorphins were stopping him from feeling the pain for a bit.

"_Yep, any second now I'm going to start feeling the hit again…man that hurts a lot… why does it just keep getting hotter...I'm out if this keeps up...crap, gone."_ Sure enough, seconds after that Saiben fell to the ground. Before he did though he saw something that he didn't understand. His version had become blurred and he saw a red blob of light come screaming down from above and scatter the Fire Ants like bowling pins.

With Saiben gone Seizu had been had been getting increasingly desperate in her fight against these seemingly tireless fighting machines. Just before she gave up all hope and surrendered, something plummeted out of the sky. As soon as he hit the ground the newcomer whipped the giant fire ball he was holding, practically vaporizing two of the Fire Ants. True to their form though, the rest barely flinched and came at him a second later. He deflected the first punch that was thrown at him, grabbed the arm just as Saiben did and swung her around to block the rest of the punches. He continued to whip her around until she was near his back. He then pulled her forward and threw her over his shoulder and sent her crashing into one of the remaining three. He then turned to take on the other two, only to find Seizu knocking out the last one with a kick to the jaw. Seizu gave a quick look around for the two leaders but they had disappeared again.

After looking to make sure no one else was alive she turned to thank her saviour and was shocked to find she knew him, "Jouku!?"

"I met Kodou a little while ago and he told me what Saiben was trying to do; speaking of which we need to get him out of here and stop that bleeding."

Seizu managed to compose herself and picked up Saiben's unconscious form and follow Jouku. They didn't walk for very long as Jouku pulled open the door to a seemingly random house and just walked right in. As soon as Seizu stepped through the door Saiben was snatched from her hands. Saiben's mother was now carrying him to a bed in one of the bedrooms off the main hallway. When Seizu went to go see what she was doing Jouku quietly closed the door.

"It's best to just leave her alone right now. That was his mom by the way. This is where Kodou's friends hid them."

"Okay, did Kodou tell you what's going on?"

"Yeah, nothing that I didn't really know all ready though. This isn't the first attack that this groups done. Last time they went after someone else like Saiben because they thought he was the avatar. The guy apparently hid in my house and they killed everyone in it. I was with my grandma at the time. It's the only reason I'm alive right now. The group's called Fallen Fire and they're huge, just not very active. That's why their attacks are always vicious, just not frequent."

"What are you going to do now then? Just wait out the attack?"

"I was actually going to help you and Saiben. My grandpa used to work at the palace."

"And now you're in a middle class home?"

"He was one of the janitors."

"Oh. Sorry."

"While he was working there he found the tunnels that were used on the Day of Black Sun. We could use those to get past most of the search parties."

Jericho felt like he could explode. He had never felt so good in all his life. The plan had gone off without a hitch. Even his own about obtaining the avatar was going smoothly, despite Riley and Codran getting their faces kicked in; served them right for underestimating the kid so much. Even that didn't matter though because everything was going according to plan. The Fire Ants had been defeated and the agent from the black file was closing on Saiben as he thought of it.

There was only one thing left to do. With that thought he looked back down at the pieces of crumpled paper that littered his desk and the floor surrounding it. He hated writing letters. He knew exactly what he was going to say, but no matter how much he tried he couldn't get his writing to look like the kind a high chancellor would use. He looked dejectedly at the contraption in the corner of his room. For all the praise it received he still couldn't get it to work. The type writer was supposed to be far easier than writing and required minimal maintenance. What a load of crap!

With a dejected sigh he resigned himself to the fact that he was probably going to have to dictate to his secretary again. He had been trying to write two letters: one to each of the leaders of the other two nations. He would be using the attack as an excuse to position Fire nation special forces there to 'help' them track down Fallen Fire. He also didn't want anyone in his own nation to find out what he was doing. He resigned himself to get a new secretary soon after this and walked into the other room to start the dictation.


	10. Smoke and Mirrors

Chapter Ten: Smoke and Mirrors

It wasn't until the next day that Saiben regained consciousness. The one hit he had taken had broken his skull and burned him very badly. As far as the burns went, his right earlobe was completely gone as well as some of the other outer parts. All the skin on the better part of the right side of his face had taken on a reddish purple colour and remained extremely tender no matter what his mom applied to it. She had been able to stitch up the fracture in his skull, but he still had a lump on his head from where he had been hit.

Despite all this, he got up immediately and went to see where he was, much to his mother's dismay. He found Jouku and Seizu sitting in the kitchen trying to make breakfast. It seemed that his mother hadn't left his side the whole time and that meant that Jouku and Seizu had to try to cook. It wasn't that Saiben's dad couldn't cook; it's just that you'd be crazy to actually eat it. When Saiben stumbled into the kitchen Seizu couldn't even look at him. It was a thoroughly disturbing thing to see. If you were to see her at any other time, you would assume she was as tough as nails. To see her act like this in front of anyone made the ideas of his own hypocrisy come back and Saiben fought down a feeling of self loathing.

Saiben's mother went over to console her while Jouku came over to talk to Saiben, "She's really taking your loss hard you know."

"I sort of figured. Her comment really did throw me for a loop though."

"What did she say to you?"

Saiben rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment, "I didn't notice I was fighting a bunch of girls."

"Oh, you got embarrassed at the touchy-touchy?"

"Okay, that's the weirdest thing you've ever said."

"I needed to try and cheer everyone up; the situation has improved at all. The city is still in turmoil and so far, it looks like Fallen Fire still controls of it which is really grating on the nerves."

"Looks like I am leaving the country then."

"There isn't a bull big enough to make that pile Saiben?" Saiben just gave him a smile and then turned to leave.

"Where do you think you're going? You won't be able to do anything with the state you're in!"

"Look, practically the whole city is after me! They obviously have the Fire Lord or else things would be fixed by now. The only option is for me to get the Fire Lord out of the country as well as myself so we can get some international help and retake our country!"

"Yeah, a fifteen year old with a fractured skull that's easy to spot is going to be able to walk right into the palace and ask where the mean men are holding the Fire Lord!" Jouku was trying to get under Saiben's skin so he gave the whole statement the feel of talking to a toddler.

"I can use the tunnels to get in; they'll never know I'm there until it's too late!"

Jouku' plan had worked: what had gone unsaid between them had just been thrown into the open for everyone to hear, "Yeah, and I'm actually going to tell you where they are."

Seizu had recovered by the time Saiben's outburst was over and tried to reason with him, "Do you honestly think that those were the only psychopathic fighters they had? Their bound to have more and..." she drifted off as she realized that Saiben might be able to handle them if she hadn't told him and her vision dropped again.

Jouku decided to step in where she had left off, "You won't be able to do much on your own. If there are more of us then we have a much higher chance of finding him and getting out alive. Besides, we got reported anyway, so we're wanted now too."

Saiben heaved a sigh, "You're going to tail me if I go alone anyway so come if you want. I honestly don't see why you'd take yourself out of hiding and throw yourself into danger."

"The same reason you are." was the response Jouku gave.

Saiben was forced to stop again to reason with his parents as they had both gotten up to go with him, "There is no way you're coming with me. Dad, you're not a bender and haven't trained for fighting or anything like that. Mom, you never really learned how to bend. Go get Stendra and hide at grandpa's cottage."

"Why do you want us to get your sister?" He could tell his mother was getting near crying.

"I don't want them hanging anything over my head." It was obvious he meant a hostage and they all knew it. His mom nodded dejectedly and sat back down along with Saiben's father.

Saiben, Seizu, and Jouku left through the side door, using any shadows they could until they got back to the road. Once they started towards the palace Jouku darted into a store and came back out with a mask that you would wear during the Fire Festival. He handed it back to Saiben who grimaced as he put it on. He honestly didn't know why he was wearing the mask. It just made him stick out more. Even if the Fire Festival was only a week away, it was still weird to be wearing a mask this early.

He wore it anyway and they continued towards that palace. They walked for a good ten minutes then Jouku turned onto a street that almost went back the way they had come. A few more steps down this street and Jouku stopped on a one of the may stone slabs that made up the road. He directed Saiben and Seizu to stand where he was then he left and came back rolling a garbage can full of stones, then another and another. On the fourth one, the grounded shifted and Saiben and Seizu dropped down in a tunnel that was only a couple feet below the road. The door was just a lever so all you needed was enough weight to move it. Jouku dropped down after and helped Saiben pick up one of the cans and heave it back out onto the road. With the extra weight gone the door closed again and a fire flared to life in Saiben's hand.

They walked for what seemed like an eternity until the tunnel came to an abrupt end. Jouku walked forward and shot a little dart of fire into a barely visible crack in the wall. A few seconds later and the wall whispered open. It was just as dark in the new room as it had been in the tunnel.

When they entered the next room Jouku started to speak, "You know this might not be such a good idea. We're not even sure if they're keeping the Fire Lord here. They could have moved him."

Saiben stopped and tried to reason with him which he didn't want to, they were wasting time, "No they would need him here to act as the figure head. He's still here."

"They're bound to be guarding him, and with the prize that big there's definitely going to be a lot of people so we probably won't be able to get to him anyways."

"Look, if you're having second thoughts you can go back, I'm not." Saiben stated with finality. Although Jouku didn't turn back he became more nervous with a worried expression forming on his face which rivalled Saiben's mom. When they reached the next door Jouku became calm again and opened the door the same way he had the last one. When they walked into the next room something came down from out of the blackness and Saiben knew no more.


	11. Priorities

Priorities

Saiben's eyes creaked open. They felt like they were made of lead. Once he opened them his vision didn't get any better, all he saw were hazy outlines. Eventually, his vision did clear and he still couldn't understand what he saw. His hands and feet were in chains that were locked onto the wall behind him. He looked to his left and saw Seizu was in a similar position and was still unconscious. He somehow managed to lift his aching head up and his stomach lurched (figuratively and literally). The two leaders from before were standing a few feet from him, along with whom he could only assume was the High Chancellor, and for some reason that escaped him Jouku as well.

"Welcome to your new home Avatar Saiben." The High Chancellor said with a mocking voice. Beneath it there was an untold amount of malice. "I see our Fire Ants left you with a little something to remember them by." Saiben became aware that he was no longer wearing his mask, revealing his burnt face.

"Are you curious at all as to how we knew you were coming? The answer is standing right beside me."

"You said you'd leave me out of this." Jouku's head seemed to be made of lead because he response was directed towards the ground and his voice was barely audible. Despite the low volume there was incontrovertible fury there. Any sane person would have backed off; the High Chancellor didn't seem to care however and continued, "This is all thanks to Agent #23." And he motioned towards Jouku.

Saiben was still pretty groggy but he did his best to sound awake, "Wha?" '_WOW! Way to go Saiben, you totally threw them_!' Saiben badgered himself as the half word left his mouth.

"Your friend betrayed you." The Chancellor almost seemed to purr, "I'll leave him to explain it." As he said that he turned on his heel and walked out of the cramped and damp little room.

Saiben could only stare with disbelief as Jouku tried to explain his actions. His explanation had him stumbling over the words as they fought for room in his head, "I really didn't want to do this, but I didn't have a choice. I never got the chance to hide my family. I loved them more than anything before the attack came. When I came back with my grandma and found the house in pieces I felt like my heart had been torn out. A few days after that, they contacted me and told me that they had my family. I was forced to become one of their agents. The only problem was that they were too sadistic and refused to let me see them. I don't know why, maybe it was out of fear that they'd tell me to forget them and blow the whistle. The deal was sealed when they skipped training me and just used the Ba-Sing-Se mental conditioning method to teach me how to master bending. They can bend me anyway they want as long as I don't know if my family is alive or not. Until I know I won't risk anything. I'm sorry, Saiben, but there was no other option." As Jouku' explanation reached its ending, all the passion he had been speaking with seemed to go out of him and he turned away from him like he had been caught taking candy from a baby.

A few minutes later, the High Chancellor, flanked by the two Fallen Fire leaders, came back in and trussed up Saiben and Seizu so they could be moved to another room. The next room was equally dank and dreary. They were thrown down and their captors proceeded to leave them there with Jouku throwing sympathetic and remorseful looks behind him as he left.

As soon as they left Seizu started to struggle around and face Saiben with a livid expression on her face that made Saiben want to drop dead, "He's been your friend for how long and you didn't get a whiff of this once!!"

Unlike Seizu Saiben was suffering a slight case of shock and offered a possible explanation, "Jouku always had a strong set of morals and he followed them no matter what and his family was the base of all of them. If these people have them they have complete and total control over him."

Still doesn't explain why you didn't see this coming." Seizu muttered, "Well, let's get these ropes off." She began to try and burn the ropes off but nothing started to happen.

A voice that seemed to come from nowhere made them both jump, "It's fire proof so stop trying."

Saiben was the first to recover and he asked the disembodied voice, "What do you suggest we do then?"

"Come over here, I have something you can use." Saiben gave a quick look at Seizu who just shrugged and started to worm her way over to where the voice had come from. They both got there and found a bloody wreck of a man with once fine clothes on and an arm missing.

"Who are you?" Saiben managed to stammer out. The man's appearance was so gruesome that he felt he might gag.

"I _was _Fire Lord Impode. Ever since Jericho Vooluse usurped me I've been the resident prisoner."

"And they just cut your arm off for fun?" Saiben asked while trying to avoid looking at the bloody stump he was asking about.

"Do you honestly think that the leader of you country is a helpless sac of flesh? I made them pay dearly for my capture. It doesn't matter now though. They brought me down here in a hurry so my headpiece should still be here somewhere." The man pushed himself off the wall he was leaning on and fell on the floor. Once he had gotten into a more comfortable position a flame burst to life in his remaining hand. Saiben and Seizu both used the limited light to start to look for the headpiece and Saiben eventually caught a glint out of the corner of his eye and crawled toward the source and found it. Minutes later they were free of their ropes and were standing with Saiben supporting the fallen monarch.

"Okay now what?" Seizu asked.

"This is actually as far as I got in my planning." The Fire Lord admitted not without a little embarrassment showing in his voice. They never got the chance though because the door opened and Jouku walked back in.

A little surprise showed on his face, but he continued never the less, "Look, Saiben, I don't know how you got the ropes off, but please don't try anything. I don't plan on risking my family's life for yours. I'm supposed to take you to another room for processing." Saiben would normally have done something anyway, but the situation had changed adversely. If he did something that would kill Jouku' parents he would have their deaths weighing on his conscience and a hell bent Jouku on his tail which was something he did not want. Add to that the fact that Jouku was apparently a master bender and he had a strong argument to comply with him.

He just got up and followed Jouku out of the room while pleading with him, "Isn't there some way that we could get away and have you not get blamed for it?"

"I'm not risking their lives so stop trying to reason with me! My fate was sealed the second Fallen Fire got their hands on them." Jouku stopped abruptly after that, picked up the rope that had tied them, and motioned them out into the hallway.

He stopped shortly after and pointed towards a small room just off the hallway, "I'm afraid this all I can do for you without risking anything. See that crack in the wall? This room is next to the one Jericho is currently in. You might be able to hear what he plans on doing with you. That might give you time to make a plan. It won't help very much; he's not taking any chances with any of you."

"Just get out of my way so I can listen and see how deep in trouble we are." Saiben said coldly as he muscled his way past Jouku. Jouku noticed this but he didn't really mind, he had resigned himself to that kind of treatment a long time ago.

As Saiben put his ear to the crack he could faintly hear voices on the other side, "...really don't want him down there for long. If the plan is actually going to work I need him!"

Another voice entered the conversation, "What about the other one?"

"She's far too dangerous. She was distracting the Fire Ants from Saiben if your report says anything. We should just get rid of her before she tries anything. Take her down to the cellars and execute her. Have Saiben placed in the mirror cell."

"And the Fire Lord?"

"We might still need him if things don't go our way. Keep him alive, but keep him weak."

Saiben had heard all that he thought might be useful so stopped listening and went back to tell Seizu and Impode what he had heard, and he said it with an ashen face, "Seizu you're going to have to find a way to escape soon. They said they're going to execute you in one of the cellars. Don't do anything that makes Jouku look bad unless there's no other option because you don't want him tracking you down. I'm going to be put into the mirror cell. Do you know what that is your highness?"

"No I don't. Most of the jails and dungeons weren't in the palace anyway. I think they're talking about an interrogation room."

Saiben bit his lip, trying to think of what it might be, "I'll figure something out. They want to keep you weak so you can't pull anything. I'd suggest biding your time and waiting for the time when help is the closest."

Jouku stepped in and interrupted Saiben before he could keep going, "Sorry, but I do have a schedule to keep."

"Really, more people to trick and back stab today? You are busy!" Saiben replied with ice in his voice. He regretted saying right after though. Even having a conversation with Jouku was preferable to the heavy silence that came afterwards. After walking for a little while longer Jouku stopped again and held open a door and told Saiben to put the Fire Lord in it. The room was a little bigger than the one before, and drier. Saiben put the man down as gently as he could and gave him a sympathetic look before he left. They continued down the dark hallway and eventually came to a cross road.

When they got there Jouku began to give them instructions, "Yuan, take the left passage. There's a water basin in the room in the end that you can use. Saiben, another guard will come here in a few minutes to bring you to the mirror cell. Go with him and please try not to pull anything. Wait 'till you're in the cell then try and find a way out. I'm sorry; I know you don't care, so take it for what it's worth." Seizu started to walk down the left hand passage still glaring and Jouku, she would never forgive him. Jouku sat down against the wall and waited for the guard to come.

He surprised Saiben by starting a conversation, "You should know that as soon as I know about my family things will change. If they're dead, you'll be getting my help whether you want it or not. If they're alive I don't know what I'll do. Probably try to free them. Either way, things are going to change soon. I wish you the best of luck."

"If you'd told me this was going to happen I would have done something to help you."

"If I'd told you then Jericho would have found out and then they'd be dead. Look, I'm really sorry but there was nothing I could do. Best of luck, here comes the guard." Sure enough about thirty second later Saiben heard footfalls further down the hall. Jouku passed him a piece of rope and Saiben wrapped around his hands behind his back. Moments later a guard marched out of the gloom with fire ball in hand.

The only thing he said was, "Your work is done here. See the High Chancellor for debriefing."

* * *

Saiben just followed the guard as he led him down the passage to the right. They stopped a short while later before a door. The guard held it open and Saiben walked in. The room was freezing cold and water dripped from the ceiling. The temperature seemed at the perfect level to have the water not freeze yet still have you shivering badly after being in the room for a couple of seconds. Saiben turned around and was surprised to see that the guard had come into the room with him.

Saiben decided to have a little fun by trying to get the guard to talk, "What are doing? Don't tell me I need a babysitter?"

"Babysitting? I have to do that for you at home, not here!" Saiben was so surprised he actually fell over. The guard took off his face plate and Kodou's face came into Saiben's vision.

"Surprised to see me?"

"Just a little."

"Okay, jokes aside, the guards here have really loose mouths. There's a one way mirror that looks like part of the wall in here. The room is made cold artificially so you can't use fire to find it. That won't work on you though, right?"

"I'm not exactly what you would call your average convict. The problem is how big this room is. I have to search it before I can sleep. I'll be too cold to bend when I wake up."

"That's where I come in, here." Kodou handed Saiben a little scrap of something, "Light that on fire when you wake up, it takes a long time to burn so it should warm you up. I'm also supposed to be watching you via the mirror so you have a little time to look for it. Once my shift is done someone else will be watching you and it might be a bit harder to break out. Try to get it done fast and good luck. Oh yeah, if I see Jouku I'll smash his head in for you okay?"

"Don't; try to find out about his parents, he doesn't want to help these guys. Find out about them and help him. He'll help us as soon as he's free."

"I honestly don't see how you can talk to him like you hate his guts then turn around and help him but okay."

"I haven't forgiven him. He's the best guy they have though from the looks of things. Get rid of him and they'll be hard pressed to catch any of us." Kodou shrugged his approval, replaced his face plate and left, leaving Saiben alone in the freezing cold room with no idea where to start.

--

Saiben had searched the cell for a long time and finally lay down to rest, not nap, but just rest until he got his breath back. Three seconds later and he was out cold. He woke up even more freezing than he was before and struggled with numb hands to find the strip the Kodou had given him. He managed to produce a spark and was immediately rewarded with warm light and feeling in his hands. He just sat huddled with the fire close to him, basking in its life giving warmth, then a though hit him: The cell was a torus. There was no place that a window could be that would be able to see everywhere in the cell!

He got up, made a fire in his hand and started to run around the column in the middle of the room, looking for a slight crack in the mirrors surface. The column had to be all mirror because it was the only place that you were able to see the whole cell from. When Saiben had a quarter of the column to go he was forced to stop; he felt a sneeze coming. Something very strange happened when he sneezed though. The fireball in his hand exploded into one that was a hundred time bigger than it had been and blew him backwards as well as the roof which shattered into little bits of glass. Saiben didn't see this though as he was out cold from the explosion.


	12. Reunion

Reunion

Seizu was sitting in the room Jouku had told her to wait in. As she sat and soaked in the heat of the little fire pit her mind was racing. She was seriously contemplating disregarding Saiben's plea and running away to screw Jouku over. She couldn't see the grain of good that Saiben said he saw in him. She knew that the fact that he had his family held hostage against him was pretty good, but waiting years and then back stabbing your friend and your country was stretching the limits way past what they could be normally. The only thing that made sense to her was that Saiben said you didn't want him on your tail and she believed it. He had said they used the Ba-Sing-Se conditioning method on him, which was illegal the over in almost every convention since Long-Feng had been convicted of over 100 counts of malicious conditioning. Jouku probably had the skill that would normally take decades to achieve pressed into him in a matter of minutes. The procedure had been proven to sometimes cause brain damage but it seemed that he had been one of the lucky ones.

Seizu's mind switched tracks abruptly and she started to think of how to escape her execution. The more she thought about it the more depressed she became. No matter how much she thought about it, she couldn't think of a way out that wouldn't hurt Jouku. As she slipped farther and farther into self-pity she did what many people did before they died: look back at their life and find themselves wishing that they could have lived longer. While she was doing this a little idea drifted down to her. If she was going to be executed than she would be restrained so she couldn't defend her self. That meant that her executor wouldn't be guarding himself at all. She then started to run through all the advanced bending katas she had in her head until she came to the one she needed.

It was a short and simple one with only two movements. She brought her hands around in tandem circles and slowly brought them together. She heard a faint crackle and realized she had closed her eyes in apprehension. She did it again and this time made sure she had her eyes open. Sure enough, there was a hum in the air as pure fire cracked around her hands and then disappeared when she didn't complete the kata. She smiled despite herself. She had created lightning on her very first try. She had tried previously to do it but had just succeeded in making an explosion. Her problem before had been that she didn't know exactly who she was and that had stopped her. Now she was a person that either could make lightning and live or die because she couldn't. She continued to practice and had herself make smaller and smaller circles until she could do it just by rotating her wrists twice in one direction. This lightning was admittedly not as strong as the original kata of it, but it still had more than enough power to take out her executor.

She had to wait another ten minutes before a guard came to lead her away Just before they came she wound the rope Jouku had given her around her wrists to make is seem she was still restrained a little. She had waited so long she almost yelled at him about what had taken so long but she restrained herself as that would give rise to some very interesting questions.

When the guard walked in and began his proclamation, "The High Chancellor has passed judgement on your crimes of aiding a wanted criminal, assaulting members of the police force, and being an item of these crimes. The High Chancellor is not without a heart", Seizu laughed with amusement when she heard that, "so he has ordered you to be executed by firing squad. Follow me." Seizu followed him trying not to laugh; his whole speech had nearly had her laughing the whole time. The bit about the High Chancellor had just been too much and she had been forced to. She hoped the guard guiding her around the labyrinthine dungeon wasn't her executioner. After making her laugh like that she might feel bad if she had to shock him.

After another good five minutes of walking they came to a little room and Seizu audibly sighed when she saw someone else in there as well. She was marched to the back of the room and was shackled to the wall. When that was done the guard walked back to the other man standing in the room and they started to make a fireball. "_Ah well, your funeral_." Seizu thought as she realized that the guard wasn't going to leave.

The two men were becoming engrossed in making their fireball and they barely noticed any movement at all when Seizu started to rotate her wrists again and again. Just before she released the energy that was building in her hand one of them looked up for a moment. The last thing he ever saw was a blue flash.

Seizu hung from the wall staring at surprise at the smouldering bodies lying on the ground in front of her. The lightning didn't look like it did much damage at all. If it wasn't for the fact they had both been thrown against the back of the wall like they had been charged by a komodo rhino she would have that it would have tickled. The only sign that they had been hit was a little hole burned in their shirts.

It took her a good deal longer than she thought it would to get herself out of the shackles. She had to aim precisely with her lightning to actually be able to hit the cuffs and for the first few tries she missed because she was afraid of hitting herself. On her fifth attempt she got it and fell to the floor rubbing her wrists. The short time in the shackled had left them raw. She stood up and immediately crept out of the room, pushing the bodies out of sight as she did.

She kept to the shadows and crossed the hallway where she had left Saiben and Jouku. She continued along the hallway and took advantage of any nook and cranny the wall offered. Three times she was forced to retrace her steps because she hit a dead end.

As she was walking down another hallway that looked exactly like any of the other hallways she had already been down she saw a guard come around the corner. She leapt into an alcove and prayed that she hadn't been spotted. It was just her luck that the guard had every intention of walking down the particular hallway she was hiding in.

She readied herself because as soon as he drew level with her he was going to be nice and toasty when he got blasted in the face. She never got the chance though because as he drew level with her the floor beneath both of them exploded.

The guard never had a chance as he was thrown into the ceiling above so hard that there were several audible cracks when he hit. Seizu was thrown against the wall and then the ceiling, which inadvertently saved her. She hadn't had the time to pick the speed the guard had. Instead she fell through where the floor used to be with lights going off in her head. She landed on a slab of rock and rolled off onto the floor where she had her hands were cut by shards of something which she had no idea what. She slowly collected her thoughts and started to recover. What the heck was going on? Had she triggered a booby trap? There was no light to see by so she made one in her hand and viewed the carnage all around her.

There were huge chunks of stone scattered all over the ground of what appeared to be a huge room. Where there wasn't stone was shards of glass littering the ground. She swept the fireball around looking to see if there was anyone who had actually survived the blast. First she looked for the guard who was nowhere in sight.

She finished looking around her immediate area and was about to move on when something twitched. She looked closer. It was a hand! Better yet it was a hand without the armour that the palace guards normally wore! She ran as fast she could to where the person was buried, which wasn't very, if she moved to fast the world started spinning.

She made it to the piece of stone and tried to heave it off the person. She succeeded with a lot of groaning and flipped it over. She immediately retched at what she saw. She couldn't even tell if it was human it was so badly deformed. The stone had first connected with the head, pounding it into an oozy mass of red and white. The rest of the body had fared little better with the arms having numerous bumps that shouldn't be there normally and they were sticking out at weird angles.

She turned away as fast as she could and saw another piece of stone move. She got over her retching and began to panic. If it was a guard then he would go get more to figure out what happened here then she'd have no chance to get out. She ran towards it with adrenaline stabilizing her. She got to the slab and held hand ready to blast the head as soon as it came into view.

Saiben was slowly coming around which he regretted. There was a dull pain in his arm, which he knew would be growing more acute the more awake he became. Something turned in a section of his brain and what had happened came flooding back to him.

He quickly took in his surroundings and knew what the dull pain was from. There was a fair sized slab of rock pinning his left arm to the ground. Slowly he raised his other arm and tried to lift it and found he couldn't. He wasn't just going to sit there though so he added one of his feet to his efforts. This seemed to help because the block slowly started to move.

When he had flipped over the rock he was being stared in the face by Seizu with a raised fist ready to come down and blast him. He rolled out of the way and got to his feet, then fell over, as the whole world became a kaleidoscope for him.

He felt Seizu's hands lift him up again and heard her start to talk, "We can't stay here. There's bound to be tons of guards on the way here right now. We've got to move!"

"Can't I rest for a minute? No one's going to _want_ to come down her anyway." He held a hand to his damaged head. Partly to check for damage, partly to see if he could stop the throbbing that felt like it was shaking him apart.

"Just because they don't want to doesn't mean they won't. The boys upstairs are going to be going crazy right now! Do you know what happened?"

"Yeah, I do, well, sort of, I think."

"Tell me on the way." Seizu said and hauled him up and started dragging him to where she thought she saw a way out.

Saiben stumbled after her half trying to tell her and half just trying to keep walking in a straight line, "Well I was stuck in my cell and Kodou came and helped me out a bit. I was looking for a one way mirror because that cell was used for observing someone. It was really cold and I was running my hand along the wall looking for a tiny crack that could have meant a mirror with some fire in my hand so I could actually see. I was going at a good pace and then I felt this sneeze coming on. When I did the fireball just exploded and that made the roof explode too!"

"That can't be right. I was walking up there and I couldn't see you at all."

Saiben got a thoughtful look on his face and spoke again after a moment, "There was also a pillar in the centre of the room. It must have been how you would normally watch because it's gone too."

"That would explain why the floor seemed to just collapse in places. Nothing to support it. Crap." Seizu was looking at what she thought had been a way out. Now she saw it was blocked by a slab of rock that had maintained its general shape.

"You keep looking for a way out, I want to try something." Saiben waved her off as she tried to drag him away again. She left in a huff in another direction. Saiben faced the wall and shot a stream of fire at it then tried to do the motion in reverse. The fire lost almost all of its momentum and was snuffed out.

Seizu came back after exhausting all possible escape routes. She found Saiben right where she had left him and was about to give him hell when she noticed something. The top section of the rock had melted away.

She walked up to Saiben, still staring at how the rock had changed, "How did you do that?"

"I can make fire hot enough to melt glass when I put my mind to it. I combined that with the burning hand technique and just melted the rock so it fell away."

"Hold on a second. I knew you could make that white hot fire but since when did you know how to use the burning hand?"

"Well, the way the Fire Ants fought made it pretty clear. I noticed that their hands were hot, like they were on fire. You just have to keep the fire you use when you bend normally from leaving your hand. The energy for fire can't just disappear so it comes out without all the fanfare."

"So you can have intense heat come out of your hand without it burning you why?!"

"I'm not quite sure. You never get burned by your own fire and all I did was transform it so maybe it was like my hand had my fire in it so it wouldn't burn me. Just a guess." He added when Seizu's face started to show quite a bit of incredulity.

Within five minutes, Saiben had burned a little door in the stone. Seizu had tried to copy him, but wasn't able to. She never really realized what a prodigy he was until that moment. He had been able to learn a move based on one sentence from her, and from observing the move while he was trying to avoid it. Suddenly, the idea that he was the avatar wasn't so outlandish to her.

"Any idea why you're sneeze made the fireball explode?"

"Absolutely none."

"As crazy as this sounds, you might be the avatar. I mean, what if the avatar from the Earth Kingdom died when he was born or something like that? It's possible that sort of thing happens."

"Look, I don't want to be the avatar. Before this whole mess started I had grand plans. I wanted to become a prominent figure and show the world why they should stop hating us for something that some of our ancestors did. If I'm the avatar then I represent the whole world and I can't do that. I think the child mortality idea is just crazy too by the way."

"Why not? The only people in the world actually had a good consistent form of healing is the Water Tribes. We've only come close to them in the last decade."

"The avatar spirit isn't going to choose someone who isn't going to make it through childhood."

"But what about an accident, that can hardly be anticipated." They went on arguing about why Saiben being the avatar for a long time and walked out of the dungeons without ever having met anyone. They abruptly stopped talking when they realized they had just stepped into the palace proper.

They tried as much as they could to stick to the servant passages so they wouldn't be seen. They made it all the way to one of the less used doors out and hadn't seen anybody. Saiben poked his head out the door and saw a huge mass of people standing at the front of the palace.

"I know why we haven't seen anybody! They all left the palace like it was a drill! An explosion that big is bound to set off some kind of alarm!"

"Lucky us, now let's get going." Seizu darted past him at a crouched run. She was almost impossible to spot because the sun was casting a shadow on this side of the palace and she wearing almost all black. No one was around to see her anyway. Saiben followed suit and in a matter of second they were outside the palace wall and free from Jericho's tyranny, for the moment at least.


	13. Flash Fire

Chapter Thirteen: Flash Fire

"Now what?" Saiben and Seizu had just stood outside the palace for about thirty seconds because neither of them had any idea what to do from here.

"We need a place to think this whole thing out." Seizu offered.

"My house and the safe house are out of the question because Jouku has been to both. We could go to school; it should be out by now, shouldn't it?"

"Yeah, that's are best bet because they're sure to know where I live by now too." Now that they had a destination in mind they started to move with purpose and that sent their mind at ease. Until now, they had been able to tackle things one at a time. Now they had time to think about the whole situation it was overhwleming. They were in one of the worst situations either of them could think of.

They walked towards the school the way they had become accustomed to: hiding in the shadows and creeping forward when the coast was clear. Saiben was getting sick of this and the only thing that kept him from stepping out into the waning daylight was the fact that there were probably spies all over the city by now. If it wasn't for the fact that Saiben trusted in his senses he would have been worried they were being followed.

They managed to get to the school with minimum delay. They had been forced to take a detour as a section of the city was cordoned off for an investigation. They made it to the back of the school and Seizu opened one of the schools side doors and slipped inside with Saiben. They made their way along the hallways that used to be filled with people to Seizu's home room. It wasn't like the normal classroom because she never taught in it. It was more like an office than a classroom.

Saiben decided to start thinking the whole thing through from the beginning, "Okay we know that Fallen Fire is planning to do something big. Probably take over the Fire Nation which they seemed to have already succeeded in doing. The next logical step for anyone who was trying to stop them would be to rat them out. That would make them send out messenger hawks to the other capitols informing them of the situation and telling them to be on guard for us."

A plan popped into Seizu's head, "If we were to go to another nation and turn ourselves in then we could force a confrontation where the Fire Lord is involved. That would give him all the chance he needed to blow the whole lid on this thing!"

"No, they'll have thought of that already. The only way they could stop that would be to already have people there," Saiben was on a roll now, "and if they could pull of something like that here than they might as well go after the world! Think about it! They had a fairly small group here and they were able to pull it off with almost no trouble!"

Seizu needed to interject before Saiben got to ahead of himself, and did so, "There's one problem with that plan: it's blatantly obvious what's been happening here! The only reason most people haven't noticed is that they're still so fired up about what happened they haven't taken the time to take a look around them. When things calm down they'll realize it and then the whole thing comes crashing down. They wouldn't do that."

"They would if they had a way to silence them. There's no telling how big they are. They're probably going to try and placate the people anyways. They won't make such a big fuss then. That is a good question, how would they silence us in the long run? It's common knowledge that we aren't the favourite nation right now. All the public would have to do would be to raise their voice a little and the other nations would come marching in and overhaul our government again. The only way I could see them getting away with this is if they had a huge army and it's not like ours is going to follow them once the lid gets blown on this thing. They must have one of their own."

Seizu realized that Saiben would keep thinking about this for a long time and that wasn't good since they couldn't stay in one place for too long, "We have to at least try to warn the other nations. You're probably right about them having groups in the other nations. If we can at least plant a single seed of doubt somewhere then we stand a good chance of slowing them to a dead crawl."

"Fine, but trying something without knowing the full situation can get you into a lot of trouble, trust me, I know." With their plan at least partially made up they set about getting ready to go. Seizu packed away some spare clothes for herself and raided one of the other rooms to get some spare clothes for Saiben. By now his school uniform was in tatters and Seizu left him for a moment so he could get changed.

When she came back she had two rucksacks full of food and any other provision they might need. Saiben was surprised by the amount of stuff that was there. He had always thought that he brought very little stuff on camping trips but this was even less. She had two small mats for sleeping on which amounted to two skinny bundles that had been shoved inside a tube that was used to secure one of the two packs. One of them held food; the other held the spare clothes. Assorted other things were put into Seizu's overcoat that seemed to be a bottomless pit.

Ready to leave they left Seizu's room and ran into Casson, Saiben's ex-gym teacher who surprised them by saying, "Relax, I'm not after you."

"So you're not going to freak out and call the police on us?" Saiben asked a little disbelievingly.

"No, although there are some at the front gate now. I didn't call them so don't start thinking that. One of their officers came here a little while ago and started nosing around. I don't think there as single teacher that liked him by the time he left."

"Good to know. Any idea how to get around the crazies outside?"

"No unfortunately. The area to the back of the school is cordoned off so I wouldn't go there if I were you. The west side is towards the palace, so activity is just going to get worse there. The east side is the harbour and they don't want anyone leaving so that's out of the question. Sorry, the only way is through."

"We could pretend to hold you hostage." Saiben offered.

"Do you honestly think they'd care?"

"Good point. How many are there and what do they look like?"

"There's just some regular police and there's three of them dressed in black."

Saiben grinned and motioned for Seizu to leave with him while saying, "They're guessing we might be here then. They send way more if they knew we were actually here." Saiben walked through the halls towards the front entrance. Once they got there they paused outside the door, mentally preparing for the fight they were about to have.

"Hey Seizu, I think I know how I made that explosion."

This peaked Seizu's interest, "Really, how?" Saiben decided to show her. He made a tiny flame on his index finger and gently blew on it. It suddenly swelled to the size of a pumpkin. All he had to do was blow on a flame a certain way and voilà, giant fire ball! As he did this Seizu saw his plan and hung back as he opened the door and stepped out onto the paved walkway and the view of the eight men blocking the way out of the yard.


	14. Lit Fuse

Chapter Fourteen: Lit Fuse

Saiben saw the small group tense as the doors opened and he walked out, trying to look as imperious as he could. As he got closer the members of Fallen Fire regained their composure and got into their fighting stances.

Saiben continued to walk towards them with Seizu a little ways behind, until he was easily in earshot then began his ultimatum to them, "I'll give you five seconds to get out of our way and leave us alone."

After he said that, one of the regular police stepped forward and began talking, "By order of the High Chancellor," Saiben held up five fingers to show his count down, "you are to be placed under arrest," four, "for crimes against the crown, assaulting with intent to hurt a police officer," three, "theft, arson, and malicious destruction of property." Two, "You have the right to remain silent," one, "and we have been authorized to use deadly force if necessary."

"Times up!" Saiben shouted. He held up his remaining finger and used his new move, sending a giant fireball towards them. Saiben didn't actually want to hurt any of them to that extent, so he detonated it and sent most of the group flying backwards, to land unconscious on the ground a few metres away. Amazingly, all the Fallen Fire members had thrown themselves flat on the ground, avoiding most of the blast. The one police officer that hadn't been knocked out tried to rise groggily, but just fell down and gave up joining the fight.

The Fallen Fire members got up and started to mutter amongst themselves as they dusted themselves off. Most of it was things like, 'Why did we bring them anyway' and 'useless pieces of brass'. This only got Saiben madder because he had originally intended to knock the Fallen Fire members out first, only to have it back fire by him missing them and hitting everyone else.

Saiben didn't bother to wait for them to take the offensive and charged at them. They reacted immediately by launching reams of fire at different heights. Saiben sent his own blast of fire at the wall and blew a hole through it. Before they could react Saiben was in front of the centre one and caught him full in the chest with a punch while he was using the burning hand. The man was launched skyward with a trail of smoke coming from his body the whole way.

Saiben tried to continue the punch into the one on his left, but the man blocked it and flipped Saiben over his shoulder, just like Saiben had done to one of the Fire Ants the day before. As Saiben flew behind the man he left him a parting shot with a kick to the back of his head. He landed and rolled upright, sending out a wave of flame in case anyone was already coming after him. Nobody was though and he took a moment to analyse how his opponents were acting. Within moments he had a good idea how they would act from their past comrades, stance, and their reactions before this.

He watched as the two remaining members recovered from their initial bout and came towards him. They both started launching fire at him and he didn't even bother moving. He stood where he was and deflected them with back hand movements like he was brushing off an annoying fly. This only served to anger them and they went closer which was a big mistake. They both seemed to realize it as Saiben launched forward and hit them in the chest with a powerful burst of fire. Thanks to their body armour though they were only stunned. Saiben continued his charge and used his elbow to crack one of them in the skull. In the same movement he sent out a wave of fire to block the one that had been launched at him from the other member. Saiben's was weaker though because of his initial movement had he had to jump to avoid getting hit.

The remaining member kept his distance and started pumping blast after blast at Saiben which he avoided easily. Saiben let the man keep his distance and continued avoiding blasts with negligible effort. The man continued this until a fireball hit him in the back and he fell over with a surprised look on his face. His eyes glazed over as he hit the ground.

Seizu was incredulous, "Did he forget there's two of us or something?"

"No, I made sure I had his full attention. The way I moved let him predict where I was going to be a little easier. He took the bait without realizing it and he would have kept doing that unless you did something."

"And you got that from their stance or something like that?" Her voice was a knowing and exasperated one.

"Yeah, it made the whole thing way easier. I think I'll call my move the Flash Fire." He said the last bit more to himself than to Seizu. She was a little irked at him for being shrugged off so easily, but she didn't let it get to her and promptly began walking towards the harbour. Saiben followed without asking questions. The only way he could think of getting away from their nation was to get a boat, even though that entailed walking into a hot bed of Fallen Fire activity.

Before they got anywhere near the harbour though, Seizu turned down another street.

"You know the harbour is down _that _street, right?" Saiben pointed out.

"I can guarantee that if we steal a boat then we'll get chased. It also won't help our credit with the other nations at all."

"I know that, but how else are we supposed to get out of here?"

"These." Seizu said and pointed to a normal looking warehouse. "They store all the fireworks for the Fire Festival in these. All we have to do is make a little raft. I bet that'd go faster than any of the ships in harbour right now."

"That might work if we were going across a crystal clear lake. If they get wet at all we're going to be stuck out there with no way of going anywhere."

"Do you have any better ideas?"

"Not at the moment, but to actually make it all the way to the Earth Kingdoms would take days with the fastest ship we have in harbour right now. That boat is our obvious choice, so that will be guarded the most. If we were to take the second fastest we could force them into using the fastest. We disable our own and then capture theirs and we're all set because they won't have a boat anywhere near fast enough to catch us."

"As is said before, that won't help our credit at all. If word gets out the wrong way we'll have the Water Tribes looking for us too and there is no way we'd ever be able to out run them."

"Right back where we started." Saiben sighed.

"Can't you use that crazy brain of yours to figure out a way to make a faster boat?"

"Our boats are already as good as they're going to get. The problem is that the water makes too much friction for the boat to achieve any incredible speeds without bending being involved."

"I thought that we came to the conclusion that you're probably the avatar."

"Just because I _might_ be doesn't mean I know how to bend already. I still need to learn how." Saiben explained desperately.

"Could you make something that skims over the water instead of through it?"

"You mean a hydrofoil? Our top scientists are just starting to try and find ways to make one. I'm not a savant; I'm only good at bending really." Saiben got a glazed look in his eyes as he finished and Seizu was starting to get a little concerned when he started speaking again, "I got it! We can still go over the water; we'll just go _way _over it."

"What are talking about?" Seizu asked nervously.

"You were right when you had the idea of using fireworks to go. The problem is that they can get wet easily on a raft. If we were to make gliders we could use them to launch ourselves and get to the Earth Kingdom in no time!"

"Saiben, there's one little problem with your plan: we don't have anything to make gliders from! Do you even know how to make one?"

"I was learning about aerodynamics before this started and I was going over Aang's history before he turned and disappeared. I bet I could make one."

"Okay, but do you have any idea how to fly it?"

"Glide it would be more correct, and how hard could it be? You're just shifting your weight around."

Seizu gave a sigh that had a little bit of exasperation in it before she continued trying to poke holes in Saiben's plan, "Assuming we'll be able to figure out how to fly them, what are we going to use to make them?"

"I don't know what Aang's used for the fabric across the top, but I doubt it really matters. It just has to be light and won't rip easy. The same goes for the wood." Seizu could see this plan failing in so many places, but Saiben's willpower was absolute and in the end she was forced to go along with it.

It took them a couple days to get all the materials that Saiben deemed necessary, and another for him to actually build the gliders and test them. Seizu surprised himself by actually managing to stay in the air on their first test flight.

The tests flights were a tricky business because they had to leave the city to get to a forest so they wouldn't be spotted. Once they had practiced enough to be able to stay straight and not dive bomb the ground they made their final plans to leave the Fire Nation.

Over the next day and a half they stockpiled all the small fireworks they could find. They figured they wouldn't need much lift to keep them up and didn't want to risk putting too much strain on their gliders. When they thought they had enough Saiben had a bit of bad luck because Seizu found the firework for the grand finale.

The thing was huge. It was as wide around as a tree and was as tall as Saiben was. Seizu had been quite adamant about using it for take-off which he thought was sheer suicide. When it detonated they would be blown to bits. When he told Seizu this she promptly went to work on getting rid of the explosives which she was amazingly adept at. She had all the parts defused that would be dangerous to them within an hour and had carted it out near the docks at around midnight.

They both struggled onto its top and Saiben was about to light the fuse when he remembered to tilt their projectile a little so they would have some forward momentum. Then he lit that candle. At first there was a little sizzling sound and then it felt like he was being squashed by a hundred pounds of something as the giant firework launched skyward at speeds that Saiben knew the human body wasn't built to take. Thirty seconds later they jumped off, spread the wings of their gliders out and lit the first of their firework propellants.

It took a while for Saiben to realize what a good speed they were going at. Then he saw the light of a ship _way_ below them trying to catch up. The only thing that tipped him off to this was the fact that they were firing at them in vain. All the fireballs they loosed at them fell short by a mile.

* * *

"You can stop firing now you know. There's no way you can hit them, they're way too high." Jouku said, putting as much boredom into his voice as possible. As soon as Jericho had found out that his two prisoners had escaped he had put Jouku on board the fastest ship in the harbour and had it moved to the opening from the bay. Jouku had known that Saiben would try something outlandish to get away, but nothing had prepared him for the sight of a giant firework getting launched into the air and seeing his best from jump off and fly away into the night sky. Needless to say, they had been ordered to pursue them.

Now Jouku was sitting on the ship's deck trying to get rid of his boredom. There was nothing to do on this ship because the crew were all quite adamant about non-crew members touching anything, so particular was the ship, or so they believed. Jouku wished he could believe them because that would mean a slight slip and they would stop, leaving Saiben to have a clean getaway. As long as Jouku wasn't able to have a direct part in his capture he would be okay with that.


	15. No Place Like Home

Chapter Fifteen: No Place Like Home

Argent stood where he was with his mouth hanging open in unbelieving shock. He fell to his knees, his eyes still refusing to believe what they saw. Coron was coping a little better and was using a tree for support. They had seen what happened if one of the more powerful spirits decided to bully one of the smaller ones, which was an extremely rare occurrence in itself, but Gredeer had never done anything to provoke anyone. She was quite and minded her own business.

Coron recovered a good deal faster than Argent and started to try and find a way to get to Gredeer. No matter where he looked, there didn't seem to be away. The stones were covered with green slime that looked slippery and Coron didn't want to take any chances around the black crap that had replaced the water. He thought of using some of the fallen trees to get closer, but they were too weak to even support themselves. Every few minutes you heard one of the once great trees fall beneath its own weight and crash into the filth surrounding it.

Argent recovered a good few minutes later and came to the same conclusions as Coron, but Gredeer was more important to him than she was to Coron so Argent decided to chance it and stepped onto one of the slimy rocks. Much to his surprise, it wasn't slippery at all. Instead, it stuck to his shoe and refused to come off. It only separated from the shoe when he took a step backward and back onto the only healthy looking root that was left, the one they had come through.

A thought popped into Coron's head and he decided to run it past Argent before he tried it, "Argent, I think the slime stops you from moving forward. It didn't budge an inch except when you moved backwards."

"Great idea, Coron! All we have to do is walk backwards!" Before Coron could try to explain what he actually meant Argent stepped back onto the rock backwards and tried to take another step and almost lost his balance.

"It was a good idea Coron, but I think the slime just stops you from moving towards Gredeer."

"That's what I meant!"

"Sure it was. If that's the case then give me your shoes." Argent stepped forward off the rock and held out his hand until Coron complied.

"Argent, you're going to have to take more than four steps to get there."

"I know that, I'm wearing socks! That makes six!" Despite Coron telling him that there were more than six stones between him and Gredeer Argent continued to prepare. He walked past Coron and managed to break off part of the root behind them with much grunting.

The stick was abut Argent's height and as he continued to walk towards the stone Coron finally figured out what he was doing. He was forced to cringe because if Argent was off by even a little, he would be in the black sludge, without his vaulting stick and not enough steps to get back.

Despite this, he got as much of a running start as he could and launched himself forward. Coron closed his eyes and waited for the inevitable splash that would come when Argent missed. It didn't though and when he opened them Argent had replaced the shoe he had used to land and was preparing for his next jump.

"Thought I would miss, didn't you?" Argent asked. ­

"Yeah, to be quite honest." Coron yelled back.

"I won a race around my village on hand stilts before I found out I was the avatar you know!" Argent bragged as he flew through the air for the second time. Coron guessed that was what had made him become all uptight. When he found out he was the avatar the responsibility had made him forget his childhood.

Argent completed his last jump and was in front of Gredeer, just a few feet to low to reach the sword. He took his foot out of the sock and carefully placed the stick into the water. He then flipped himself onto the stick and continued forward until his legs were locked around the sword. Coron couldn't believe his eyes. The uptight man who had been training him was now balancing on one hand on a stick that was shoved into the water.

Argent threw his weight forward and almost lost his balance on the stick. The movement did what it was supposed to though, and the sword moved out a little. He continued these motions until the sword came free and Gredeer's arms shot out just in time to save Argent from falling into the black.

"You really don't want to fall into that stuff." Gredeer said with her musical voice more off key than Coron had ever heard it. There was still a hole where the sword had gone through, but wood fibres were already stitching it closed and it was gone in no time at all.

Coron wanted to let the reunion go on but a question was pressing his mind, "Gredeer, do you mind explaining what happened here!"

She drifted over and put Argent back on the ground, "Syh Shen came through here with a bit of a bad mood. He asked me how to get to Nersh Ming and I declined to tell him."

"Wait, you stood up to DEATH!" Coron asked in horror.

"Yes, because in that state he could do something stupid and I don't think you want a world without life or death. When two spirits that are opposites like they are come together they cancel each other out most times and only a void is left."

"So if the spirit of fire and water came together they would cancel out and there would be no more of that bending?"

"No, because they aren't opposites. Someone can be one, the other, neither or both. Though the last one hasn't happened yet. You are either alive or dead, there is no middle ground."

"What am I then?"

"You're alive because you haven't gone to see Syh Shen yet. He doesn't think that way though. He counts people in your situation as being neither. That's why he thinks he can go to see Nersh Ming. They aren't absolutes any more. I don't think that and didn't want to risk it."

"Speaking of life and death and the middle ground, could you show us where Nersh Ming is? I finally convinced Argent to send me back."

Gredeer gave Argent a disproving look before answering, "Yes, and it's about time. I thought you were more persuasive than that." Gredeer picked Coron up like he weighed nothing at all and drifted across the water. With Gredeer freed the bog was slowly returning to its natural state. The slime was turning into moss, and the water was clearing. The trees would take longer to heal Gredeer explained when Coron asked her why they weren't changing too.

They reached another seemingly unobtrusive part of the bog and Gredeer dropped Coron into the water then began to explain, "Do you remember how you came here?"

"Yeah, I got launched through the bottom of your bog."

"Well, Nersh Ming's spring is so close to the mortal plane that that's how you're going to go there. Hold your breath."

"Okay, but whyyyyyyyy!" Coron felt roots take hold around his legs and plunged him through a hole in the ground and eventually shot him out of the water and then some. Only the fact that he was in the presence of a great spirit kept him from screaming out like he had when he first came there. He looked around and saw what he was looking for. Nersh Ming was sitting on a great throne of wood that seemed to give off a pale light. Nersh Ming had the form of an old woman with hair that was the aquamarine and she wore clothes that were white with gold and brown designs on them.

She tried to raise her voice and speak which made her voice crack when she spoke, "You have come back to me."

"Actually, I was wondering if you could lend me some of your power and send me back to my body great one."

"But you are so much freer now without it while I grow weaker by the minute. More like you are happening every week and I lose strength because of them."

"That's one of the reasons I was hoping to go back. I want to find out why it's happening. I also need to help the avatar. He's in trouble right now and without his help this will continue to happen. Please, listen to my plea and send me back so I can help you recover great one."

"Very well, but you must hurry because I am growing weak and I fear Syh Shen will make Gredeer bend to his will next time." She raised her hands and a ball of light appeared in between them. It drifted lazily towards Coron and enveloped him. Moments after that he was forced to his knees by an invisible force that was crushing him into a single point. His eyes were closed and he was rolled into the smallest ball he could make himself into.

Just when he though he couldn't take it any more, the feeling disappeared and he only felt mildly cramped up. He opened his eyes and couldn't tell the difference. Happiness surged up through him like bile sometimes did after he took his medicine fifteen long years ago.

* * *

Gredeer came through the hole and floated to beside Nersh Ming to ask her question, "Didn't he ask why he couldn't taste the medicine?"

"No, he was too anxious to go back. He shouldn't have survived though."

"You put that much pressure on him?"

"No, I mean the trip here. Even with the avatar spirit he should have been torn to bits and scattered across our world. We're in big trouble because if they're sticking their hands into this world again something really big is coming and I don't trust either side."

"You're over reacting. That hasn't happened since the dawn and it won't ever happen again."

"You were young then and didn't see the full scale of it. It could happen again. Let's hope you're right though."


	16. Undisputable

Chapter Sixteen: Undisputable

Jouku unwillingly opened his eyes. The morning sun had just crept over the horizon and it was making his eyes hurt even behind his eyelids. He had apparently dozed off for the night against the wall that backed the ship's deck. Before he woke up fully, he heard a loud 'thunk' and the ship bobbed up and down a little.

"Little more to the left!" Jouku heard the captain's voice yelling at someone. Jouku got to his feet and stretched to get all the kinks out of his muscles. After he decided he was fully awake he decided to go and look for what had made the sound. He rounded the corner of the ship's deck and another ship came into view. This one was a good deal larger than the one he was on and had a crane mounted on its deck. Jouku looked at the small deck that was behind the control tower and saw three dual personal carriers loaded onto the deck.

Jouku walked up to the captain to see what was going on and the response made his gut drop, "We were ordered to follow those two criminals unless we lost them, then we were supposed to wait for additional personnel and equipment. The High Chancellor wants you and these people," The captain pointed at five other members of Fallen Fire that were smiling at him wickedly, "to use these and go after them. He also said to make sure they didn't get to any towns at all."

"Fine." Jouku spat, "Two to a carrier, get on them!" The Fallen Fire operatives moved to do so but continued giving him those wicked smiles. It had become apparent to Jouku a while ago they were trying to mock him because of his previous affiliation with Saiben.

Once all of them were suited up and on board the back of the ship was lowered and they flew off and out into the ocean going at speeds, they hoped, that would close the gap between Saiben and Seizu.

Saiben was on watch. They had taken it in turns to watch and make sure the other one didn't fall to far while they tried to sleep in mid-air. He had been easier than they thought it had been. They secured themselves with rope and weighted their feet a little and found they could maintain their height fairly well. They had gone through the whole night like that without a single slip up.

Seizu shook herself awake and panicked for a moment because of the lack of land. She recovered though and Saiben flew around her and undid the ropes around her hands and feet, then drifted to the back and took off the weights and gave them back to her.

They continued flying for a while, then Saiben thought he heard something below them. He looked down and had a split second to avoid a fireball that had been launched at him from below.

"Great!" Seizu shouted, "We're within sight of land and they catch up to us! What are the chances of that?"

"Pretty good considering I think the front one is Jouku."

"You have got to be kidding me! Doesn't he ever give up?"

"With the leverage Fallen Fire has on him, probably," Saiben would have finished his sentence if he hadn't needed to dodge another fireball. As they continued more and more fireballs were launched and Seizu was hard pressed to avoid them all. Saiben seemed to be more at home in the air and didn't have the trouble she did in avoiding them.

"Try lighting another pair of fireworks to get some more height. You can't avoid them forever!" Saiben shouted to her. When she tried however she was forced to take her attention away from her pursuers for a second. In that time a fire blast was hurled up at her and before she could do anything it hit.

At first she counted herself lucky because it had missed her, then her whole supply of fireworks exploded right next to her.

Saiben saw her plummet through the sky, the force of the explosion propelling her even faster. He knew he was yelling but he couldn't hear himself. His screams of anguish continued even as his vision started to cloud over. He was so desperate he barely noticed when he dive-bombed the ocean in an attempt to save her.

Then, his conscious shut off. He started to fall for an instant, then his eyes opened of their own accord and a white light shone from them. He continued his dive bomb unknowingly and lit fires on all his fingers. Before he hit the water he had overtaken Seizu's decrepit form and a gale force wind blew from his mouth, igniting the flames and creating a massive wall of white flame that smashed into the small boats below him.

Almost everyone one of them exploded from the heat before the wall even got to them. Jouku was the only one who kept his head and screamed away when he saw Saiben start to glow. He didn't get quite far enough and was seared by tail end of the wall as was the person riding in the back. The boat was totalled as the engine burnt out and started to smoke badly. They ditched and the boat exploded moments later.

Before the avatar state shut off Saiben loosed a bubble of air that bounced Seizu away from the water and slowed her speed greatly. That done, the light disappeared and Saiben fell unconscious.

The cold water of the ocean slapped Seizu awake when she hit it. The fact that her skin was seared from the explosion only made it seem all the colder. It took her a moment to remember what happened, when she did though she scanned the skies to look for Saiben. When she didn't find him she though the worst, then his unconscious body floated into her view.

Her mind immediately flooded with the worst scenarios and some very important questions, which she pushed out of her mind until she was in a situation where she could think about them. She grabbed Saiben's limp body and began to slowly paddle for the shore. It was closer than she remembered it and that gave her hope.

When they reached the shore she immediately checked Saiben for a pulse and almost broke down when she found a strong one. She left him where he was and walked down the shore to look for their rucksacks. She found them a little ways down the beach and brought them back. She went through their provisions to see what salvageable. After that, she used the cord that had held the rucksacks together and hung up their spare clothes to dry.

A little while after Seizu was done drying the clothes off Saiben finally woke, rubbing his head like he'd had a migraine.

The first thing he did was ask groggily, "What happened?"

"How about you tell me."

"I don't know." He replied with a voice that suggested his head hurt from something, "I remember seeing the blast from the fireworks hit you, then nothing."

"Well something happened because I found you unconscious and couple other dead bodies floating in the water with me."

"Well, I don't have any clue. Do you know where we are?"

"We're on the Earth Kingdom coast line I think. The Fire Nation doesn't have many beaches."

"Okay, that's good news. Can you take a guess at how many bodies there were?"

"Yeah, there wasn't many, three or four maybe."

"Well then, Jouku is out there still and that means that we have to get moving again."

"Don't you ever rest?"

"I tried to in the dungeons, but you insisted I didn't."

"Ha ha, very funny. We should at least eat something before we move on. We don't even know where a village is or anything."

"Okay, what do we have left?"

"The cheese is still okay, and some of the berries weren't burned." She said as she showed him their now more than modest provisions. Saiben took a few berries and a piece of cheese and ate them slowly; trying to savour what could be the last meal he had in a while.

When he was done eating he walked to the edge of the surrounding forest and climbed one of the trees that looked the tallest. From his vantage point he looked around and all he saw was trees. He tried to look for clearings, but the land slowly rose up into the foothills before a mountain range rose up to the north-east. He continued to look for a village or any sign of civilization for that matter when he saw something farther down the beach. As he looked closer it came into focus and all the colour drained from his face. Jouku and another person were lying farther down the beach.

He jumped down through the last five branches and screamed into the little camp that Seizu had going. While yelling, "WE GOTTA GO!"

Seizu grabbed him when he got close enough, "What are you talking about?"

"Jouku is farther down the beach from us! We gotta go!"

"What is that guy, a magnet?" Seizu asked incredulously, then she remembered that she had started a fire and put it out with a snap of her fingers. The smoke would be a dead give-away.

They packed up their little camp and headed off towards the mountains. Saiben figured that there were plains around it, and it was higher so they could see around it better and hopefully see a village or something that would have people in it.

Jouku' eyes fluttered open and saw the tail end of a trail of smoke lifting into the clouds. He looked around and saw another body beside himself, whom he roughly shook awake.

"Hey, wake up. We still have a job to do." The man rolled over to look at him, cursed a few times and stood. Jouku told him what they saw and they started in the direction of the smoke.


	17. Krix

Chapter Seventeen: Krix

Seizu had lost herself to the monotony of their walk. Saiben, on the other hand, was extremely paranoid about running into Jouku. Every little sound made him twitch. He knew that if they were forced to he wouldn't be able to hurt him, given the opportunity. He also knew that Jouku wouldn't hesitate at all if he gave him half a chance.

So it was for that reason that Saiben was the only one that noticed when a bush moved, "That bush just moved Seizu!"

"Okay, so there's an animal in it. The only reason you should be pointing that out is if you want some meat to roast." Seizu said thoughtlessly.

"Jouku could be around here though. He could already have a trap set for us and that could be him pulling on a string or something!"

"Saiben, please, calm down for a minute." Seizu turned around and put her hands on his shoulders, forcing him to listen, "Do you really think he would bother? He's been turned into a fire-bending master. I don't think he would bother with traps."

Her words seemed to calm him down and he eventually replied with, "Yeah, you're probably right. He's probably tracking us by now though."

Seizu turned around and began walking again, "That's probably true, so we should try to find a stream, we can use it to lose him." They continued to walk and heard water a few minutes later. They couldn't believe their luck, until they saw a pair of shirshu drinking from it. They walked away as quickly and quietly as they could.

They were walking parallel with the stream but sticking to the tree cover as it blocked the wind fairly well. If the shirshu got a whiff of them they would be dead. They thought of trying to trick Jouku into getting the shirshus after him, better every plan they thought of involved exposing themselves, which they wouldn't do under any circumstances.

They walked along the stream for a few hours and decided to cross. Once they did they sprinted across the little beach on the other side so they could get back in the tree line. Winded slightly from the wading and running, and the fact that they hadn't really slept much in awhile they opted to have lunch. They split some more of the cheese and got some raspberries from a bush that was near them.

Once they felt that their stomachs weren't trying to eat themselves any more they set off again and just as they had on the other side, stuck to the tree line. Saiben had to explain to Seizu that Jouku would track them along the bank until he lost them for a moment. Then he would cross and try to pick them up again. The beach on the other side would give himself and Seizu a good enough view that they would be able to see him coming.

With that reason planted firmly in Saiben's mind, they continued along the shore until Seizu called a halt, "Hey, Saiben, there's an apple tree a little farther ahead. We should stop and get some; our food supply isn't what you'd call top notch." She showed him the bag that had been so full when they had left their home and he was forced to agree.

As they got closer and closer to the tree they realized that they were still a little ways from it. It wasn't the biggest tree they'd seen, but it was big for an apple tree. They got to its base and Seizu was forced to climb it so she could get at the apples. When she reached for one to pull it off however something very strange happened: a big bush that had been beside the tree rose up seemed to grow ­a mouth and then swallowed Saiben! The tree wasn't far behind as it swung a branch around and smacked the dumbfounded Seizu in the stomach and sent her flying through the air to be devoured by the bush as well!

* * *

Saiben eyes were open without him being aware they were. He knew he had been to this place before but he still had no idea where he was. There was fog all around him and every once and awhile he could see a shape move through the fog, but never close to tell what they were.

A shape materialized in front of him and suddenly there was teenage boy about his age standing in front of him. Saiben didn't bat an eyelid, even though he knew he should have been freaking out. He was slightly shorter than Saiben and was wearing lots of orange and brown. His head was shaved with a blue arrow tattooed on it.

He spoke and again Saiben didn't bat an eyelid, "What's your name?" his voice held joy and a somehow childish edge to it that had been worn down through what Saiben would guess was an almost unbearable responsibility.

Saiben responded without even thinking, "Saiben Hythen."

"Hm, names have gotten longer. Do you know who I am?"

A little of Saiben's awareness came back when he answered, "You're an air bender, which means I'm dreaming." He added dejectedly.

"You aren't really dreaming, only sort of. My name is Aang."

Saiben's awareness came flooding back to him, "GET AWAY FROM ME TRAITOR!"

Aang sighed before he tried to continue, "I was afraid of this. You have no idea what happened the day I supposedly betrayed everybody do you?"

"You fought on the side of the Fire Nation!"

"The Earth Kingdoms seem to have written your history texts."

"It doesn't matter; you disappeared and neglected your responsibility as avatar! You came back periodically and kidnapped national figures!"

When Aang spoke again his voice was so sad it stopped Saiben dead, "You've only heard one side of the story. I was forced to do those things. Now if you would just listen." There was no way Saiben could listen because he could feel Seizu shaking him awake. Even as Aang was trying explain his voice was becoming more distant and he was disappearing into the fog again.

Saiben's eyes snapped open and before he thought about what he was doing he was yelling, "Why did you do that?!"

"I just woke. You looked like you were having a seizure or something! You were rolling around on the ground and then this weird light started coming from your eyes."

"What do you think that means?!" Saiben yelled even though he knew there was no reason in doing so any more.

"I don't know. That's why I woke you up."

"It means that, somehow the Earth Nation was skipped in the avatar cycle. I was speaking to Avatar Aang when you woke me up."

"Good thing I did then. There's no telling what he was trying to do!"

"I don't know about that any more. He said something about being forced to do those things."

"Fanatics always make their causes sound like the right ones. It's no wonder he almost won you over." Saiben was about to reply when he actually got a look of where they were. They were sitting in a room the size of cellar with a small window at the top of one side that was too small to go through.

Saiben got a look on his face that asked where they were and Seizu was about to answer when one of the walls exploded inward and a brick slammed into the back her head, knocking her out instantly.

Jouku walked out of the smoke and started speaking before Saiben could even comprehend what just happened, "Please don't try anything, you have no idea what kind of day I've had." Saiben was still gawking when another door opened into the room through what had looked like a solid stonewall. Jouku whipped around to see who had opened and could only blink in surprise as an armadillo-cougar flew out of it and smashed him against the wall. He lasted a bit longer than Seizu and was out in two seconds. A second armadillo-cougar dragged the prone form of the Fallen Fire member out of the shadows and dropped him on top of Jouku.

When they both turned to Saiben he recovered his wits and tried to stand up, only to find out that his arms and feet were tied together. It took him all of two seconds to burn through the roped on his hands, then the same to his feet.

He stood up ready to fight, but before he could he heard another voice coming from the door, "There's no need to do that. I think you can be among friends here." A man walked out of the door and he made Saiben want to run. He was extremely tall and sinuous. His eyes weren't the regular brown or black of Earth Kingdom people, they weren't even blue or gold or any other color Saiben had ever seen. They were red with slits for pupils. His hair was brown and wild, though the man did seem to be trying to combat it. There were places where you could tell an attempt had been made to tame the mess. He was wearing a brown tunic with the sleeves cut off and some black pants. He didn't wear any shoes which showed off toes that were in dire need of attention.

"I'm Krix, the cross breeding master, please to meet you." The man held out a hand that seemed to be closer to having claws than nails.

Saiben took it, trying to not cut himself, "My name is Saiben Hythen, and if you wouldn't mind telling me, what the heck is going on here?"

"My security plants took you into custody after you tried to take some of my apples. Then these two came along. That one," he pointed at the body on top of Jouku practically spitting with disgust, "was burning a path right through the forest so they didn't have to marvel at its beauty. Needless to say I took them into custody as well."

"Wait a minute, _your_ apples? Do you own the forest or something, and security plants? I didn't know that they even existed."

"Actually, I do own this section of the forest, I have papers from the real-estate board of Omashu if you want to see them, and I'm the cross breeding master remember. I moved off of animals a long time ago. My captain of the guard captured you! It's a man eating-bush!"

"But he didn't eat me."

"That doesn't mean he couldn't have. He grows very sharp thorns on one side. The other, he makes a sap that can knock you out!" Saiben was really scared of this guy now. Not only did he look like a feral beast, but he had to be out of his mind to boot.

Saiben picked his next words carefully, "Okay, so, um, we didn't really know that that was your property so, what are you going to do now? I mean if it's all the same to you, we'd kind of like to be let go."

"I don't know if I will or not. You haven't moved a muscle to help your friend there."

"No offence meant of course, but you sort of dominate the room. You don't exactly look like the average person and I have two armadillo-cougars staring at me. It didn't seem like the right time to be letting my guard down for any reason."

"I said I hoped that you could be among friends here. Pick her up and I'll bandage her head for you." Krix said in a much more friendly tone. Saiben bent to pick up the unconscious Seizu and the two armadillo-cougars stepped forward to carry her at a growl and yip from Krix. Saiben placed her onto them as softly as he could and they trotted off with her. Saiben was forced to follow behind Krix as he was led out of his temporary prison.

Halfway up the stairs he thought of something that he had to ask, "What are you going to do with the other two?"

"Don't know. I might turn 'em loose with nothing and see how nature treats them when it has intelligence on its side! It's amazing what animals can do!" Krix seemed to get a sparkle in his eye whenever he talked about anything related to nature.

"Go easy on the one that took out your wall, he's sort of getting black mailed."

Krix gave him a weird look before he asked, "That brings me to my next question. What are two pairs of fire benders doing wondering aimlessly in the forest so far from their home?"

"It's a _really _long story."

"Well there's no chance of me letting you go until I hear it so I suggest you get talking."

"Why?"

"Well, this has all the makings of an international incident so it's only natural I want to know what's going exactly. There is no way I'm getting sucked into something big if I can avoid it." Seeing no other way around it, Saiben began telling him his story while Krix started to whistle, which made plants burst to life and move around for him to use in dressing Seizu's wounded head. Although Krix had made him nervous initially, he had something approaching trust for him. He had done nothing to make Saiben distrust him and he was helping them so Saiben had decided to take his chances.

By the time Saiben finished Seizu had woken up and was helping him where his memory was a little fuzzy on the details. They had had to take a break to catch Seizu up on what had happened at first because she was really freaked out by Krix at first. Strangely enough Krix was reciprocating the reaction. Seizu had seen better days with a lump on her and a partially burned face. Krix seemed to be taking the whole idea of the Fire Nation being taken over quite well as there was even a little grin playing across his face from time to time.

Krix stood up once Saiben was done and began to talk, "Well, you're in a bit of a jam aren't you? Lucky for you, I have a bit of sway in the Earth Kingdom since I was sponsored by the University of Ba-Sing-Se to research cross breeding. My research time is almost up and I was planning to go back and give a few quick lectures then come back out here. I can get you in there, but I'd be careful, you're not exactly going to be liked there."

"We're liked even less back home, so I doubt that it'll matter." Saiben couldn't believe he was getting jovial with this guy. He didn't really mind though. He wasn't sure when, but they had become friends and he could see the end of this coming now. Unfortunately, his optimism blinded him and the only thing that kept him from trying to get Krix to leave early was the fact that Krix reminded him of a monkey-wolf. Saiben knew, deep down, that getting to the Earth Kingdom wasn't a problem; it was what came after that that would be.

* * *

Jouku' eyes slowly opened like they were made of lead. As he looked around he saw wooden bars in front of him and roped binding his legs and feet. The thing that stopped him from blasting his way out was the group of shirshus guarding the way out. As soon as they noticed that he was awake, one of their tongues snaked out and he only had time to put together the beginnings of a plan before he was out again.


	18. The Higher Ground

Chapter Eighteen: The High Ground

Saiben woke up and panicked for a second because of the unfamiliar surroundings. Krix didn't have an actual house. He had been keeping Saiben and Seizu below his greenhouse where he normally kept all the fertilizers and other gardening equipment. When Saiben had asked where they could sleep, Krix had let out a symphony of howls, whistles, yelps and numerous other noises and then a bunch of plants had shuffled up and formed a canopy over them.

Saiben got up, making sure not to wake up Seizu; she was bound to have a headache from what happened yesterday. He walked out and the sun hit him full in the face. Once his eyes had adjusted a little bit he looked around for Krix. A few seconds later he heard a strange sounding howling sound.

He walked towards the sound to see if it was Krix. He knew it had to be him because the noise hadn't sounded like anything else he had ever heard. Krix was howling at the base of the tree and stopped as Saiben approached. As he walked nearly a dozen perfect apples fell out of it and into the basket that was sitting next to Krix.

Saiben took a calming breath before he asked, "Krix, what're doing?"

"I was asking the tree if I could have some apples."

"Trees understand howling?"

"Yes, I stumbled across that a few years ago. For some reason they can only understand the sounds of carnivorous creatures. Carnivores never ask, so the trees never give them out!"

"So you only eat what's offered to you?"

"No, I just don't eat any of the animals that I care for. I take out a pack of falcon-lizards and we hunt in the forest a couple of times a week. I gave most of my animals a slighter intelligence than normal, so they can understand me better."

"How would you do that?"

"I use a tiny bit of a smarter animal in all my breeding programs. Dolphin crosses are usually quite intelligent."

"How many animals do you have right now?"

"Quite a few. I only keep the pregnant and little ones in pens so they don't hurt themselves. The rest I let wonder around my property as they wish. My plants tell them when they have to stop."

"You never really told me about that. How do you cross breed plants?"

"Plants don't grow asexually. They have to be pollinated. I take care of that and I can make different kinds of plants. It's more complicated than that, and more difficult than animals, but that is the general idea. You're a lot more curious about that then a lot of people would be, why?"

"Well if you had something that could go fast or fly or something, we could get to Omashu faster. I'm scared that Fallen Fire might try to do something there as well."

"As you mentioned earlier. I have the standard fast, frilled lizard crosses, and then there are the more temperamental but insanely fast falcon-horses."

"I'm guessing you're the only one that has some?"

"Yes, they're my pride and joy, the only problem is that they're also proud and don't exactly like it when people ride them. Last time I tried without a formal invitation they nearly ripped my chest open!" This was said with such an air of levity that Saiben had a hard time holding in a laugh.

"Okay, that doesn't sound like a good idea. Do you have anything that flies and could hold even one of us?"

"The only thing that could ever hold someone in flight was a flying bison. I would've tried to make one, but I have no idea what the other half of the cross. The arrows aren't natural, and it was a pure mammal, meaning no insect was present and it still had six legs. I could try for a decade and never figure it out. Well a dragon could, but they're in short supply and you have no idea the paperwork they take, not to mention how high maintenance they are."

"Well, could we try asking the falcon-horses?"

"You could, but I wouldn't press them if they say no. Their tempers have been very short lately, but they're usually in better spirits in the morning so we'd better be asking soon. Go wake Seizu; she should be up already anyway." Saiben walked away to get Seizu up without having her grump at him, which was not an easy task. He had tried once previously when they were still in the Fire Nation and his head had almost been burnt off.

He walked back to their leafy canopy and ruffled the leaves to simulate knocking. A muffled groan answered him. He walked in and saw the plants had been trying to get her up. They had opened a little hole to the sky so sunlight came in and hit her face.

"All right, all right, I get the message, its morning I'm getting up alright!" Her voice was still really drowsy and her normally fierce features were losing badly to the sleepy expression she wore. Her eyes shot open when she heard Krix blow into a whistle and make a weird sound that was halfway between a croak and a bellow.

Although Seizu was awake now, she walked out into the sun like she was a zombie, which made Krix laugh. He sounded like a hyena. She stalked over to him glaring at everything around her for no apparent reason. Krix tossed her an apple, which she glared at also before starting to eat it.

They had to wait for about fifteen minutes for the falcon horses to get there. When they did only two appeared. They both had talons instead of hooves and had the head of a falcon with golden eyes. The rest was predominately horse. Their midsection didn't have feathers and their wispy tails that swatted unerringly at any fly that was stupid enough to go near them. The bigger of the two was silvery gray and had a look in his eyes that said he wanted to kill something. The other one was a golden brown and looked slightly less fierce; like it only wanted to maim something.

The silver one looked at Seizu, who glared at him like everything else. Not one to back down from a challenge, he kept eye contact. Saiben had the strange impression that there was a fight for dominance going on between them. Thinking that he would probably have to do the same thing he turned to the remaining one and looked it in the eyes. To his surprise it submitted immediately and lay down in front of him.

Krix was still preoccupied with Seizu's staring contest, but when he saw that Saiben's had already sat down his jaw dropped, showing his abnormally big canines. A few minutes later the staring contest ended in a stale mate, because they both blinked at the same time. Seizu's eyes were a little red from lack of moisture and the falcon-horse had taken to rubbing his head on the ground to try and get them to stop itching.

When the gray one had recovered from its itching eyes it opened them and saw that the brown one had already submitted. It stalked over to Saiben, who was having a very hard time standing his ground, and it started to stare at him. After about a minute it laid down too. Krix was slowly losing it because his right eye was twitching now and his jaw was still hanging.

Saiben couldn't believe what was happening either and turned to Krix to try and get some answers, "Do I smell or something?"

Krix still took another thirty seconds to get his act together enough to respond, "I have no idea. I've never seen anything like this."

"Well, could you ask them? You said you gave all your animals a slight boost in intelligence."

"Not to the point that I can have an intelligible conversation with them. I'll try, but I doubt you'll get back anything useful." Krix then proceeded to pull out what looked like a set of panpipes and a short blocky whistle. He blew through them for what seemed like forever, trying to get something that made sense out of the falcon-horses.

Eventually, he turned to Saiben, "They said something along the lines of 'His eyes belong elsewhere.' Can you make any sense of that?"

Saiben heaved a sigh before he responded, "You know how I told you Fallen Fire had some crazy theory that I was the avatar instead of someone from the Earth Kingdom? Well, a few things have happened that show they might be right. That would explain the bit about belonging elsewhere, but why they chose eyes I have no idea."

Krix was, again, dazed by what he had seen, but he recovered quickly before the falcon-horses got bored and wandered off, "If there's proof that you're the avatar then why did you deny it? Do you have any idea what kind of sway that gives? You could walk into the Earth King's Palace and completely skip all the bureaucratical crap they seem to like so much!" When Krix was done talking he whistled sharply and two beaver-bears waddled up holding saddles for the falcon-horses.

"That's just it though!" Saiben said nervously, "We don't know if I am or not. I can't bend another element yet, even if I was, so where is the proof. Besides, I'm pretty sure they're just going to love being skipped in the cycle so the Fire Nation can be honoured before them."

"You have a point there. Grudges have been buried deep there. They wouldn't like it at all. You don't have much choice though. You don't have any papers so you wouldn't get in anyways."

"Wait, why does it sound like you're not coming with us?"

"I am, but the only falcon horse that accepts me sort of tore up its old saddle because it was a little tight. She had a small fever, which made her grumpy, so when I tightened it a little more than usual, she shredded it. I'll only be about a day behind you guys and its imperative that you get there quickly. The sooner you get there the harder it'll be for Fallen Fire to do anything."

Saiben was forced into putting the saddles on the falcon-horses because they still didn't like Seizu very much. Saiben was also forced to ask Krix to tell them that Seizu was his friend. The falcon-horses seemed content with that, but Seizu was still only able to get on the brown one.

They were almost prepared to leave a half hour later, when Krix ran into his storage house to get food for the falcon-horses. They turned to go and were blown off their mounts when one of the sparse buildings that belonged to Krix exploded into flames.

Jouku had been awake for nearly six hours, working with the man beside him to slowly smoke up the room. They had come to the conclusion much earlier that the shirshus would only knock them out if they opened their eyes. They were free to converse as long as they didn't open them. Despite this, it had still taken time to figure out how to get of their prison without dyeing. Jouku had come up with the plan of smoking them out.

Shirshus barely had any eyesight and relied mostly on their smell for direction. Jouku had surmised that if they created enough smoke they could render them blind, and possibly themselves if there was too much. They didn't have a choice though as he knew that Saiben wouldn't stay here for long.

So they had begun by burning off their handcuffs which they put near the bars to see if they would catch fire as well. When they did and there was enough smoke they opened their eyes and tried to see if they were in any trouble. They weren't though as the rest of the room was made of stone. The amount of smoke was also enough to stop the shirshu from smelling anything but the smoke which left them stumbling into each other.

Jouku and his remaining henchman ran out of the little hut they had been imprisoned in and started to pick their bait. The next step in Jouku' plan involved forcing Saiben into staying here. He would ignite one of the buildings that Saiben would of course see as an injustice, and stay to fight, no matter how stupid that seemed. It might actually not seem that stupid to him because of that Krix person that had come around to check on them in the middle of the night.

Jouku had risked opening his eyes a little and was glad when he did as the man that had walked into the room looked to be crossbred himself. The shirshus didn't seem to mind him either as he walked among them as if they were all cute cuddly kitty-cubs. He had even gone so far as to pet some of them like they were domesticated animals! Jouku guessed they were, but it still seemed abstract.

Jouku walked among the buildings like he owned them, choosing the one that would disappear. He didn't care about Saiben seeing him because as soon as he blew it up he would stop. He came to a stop in front of a smaller one with a thatched roof. He motioned for the other man to come closer and Jouku enveloped it in a fireball.

Saiben rebounded off the ground almost before he touched it and saw Krix taking slow breathes, like he was trying to control himself. Saiben ran beside him and Seizu appeared a moment later. Krix's hands were balled up into fists that were bleeding from where his sharp nails had punctured the skin.

He started to speak and did it so low that it was barley a whisper, "That, was the infirmary. Why, did they blow up, the infirmary?" He was speaking very slowly which made him all the more menacing.

Saiben couldn't hold back the question, though he felt that it might make Krix explode, "Who blew up the infirmary?" Krix only pointed towards that flaming house and Saiben saw Jouku's wavering outline, black against the fire.

Saiben immediately got into his fighting stance, almost missing what Krix was saying, "They're trying to keep you here. Leave, I'm their problem now."

"I don't back out on a friend. He's a master fire bender too; I don't think you could take him by yourself anyway, let alone him and his partner!"

"You think I was alone before you came along? I have an army of animals here that'll be just as hell bent on killing them as I am. Now go before I knock you out and tie you to the falcon-horses." Saiben knew that he would do it to and hadn't thought of all the animals that were wandering around the grounds. Saiben turned around a got on the falcon-horse, feeling like he was helpless and that he was leaving some of himself behind here. It was because of that that he only moved to the tree line. He could still see the whole fight and would be able to help if need be.

His eyes only widened as he saw Krix take off at a speed that he had thought was impossible for anything with two legs. He had closed the considerable distance between them in the matter of a couple seconds and was flying through the air with his hand, now more of a claw; raised and ready to swipe at anything that came close to him.

Jouku was waiting for him though and dodged his flying tackle, grabbed his leg and tried to throw him into the storehouse. Krix rebounded off of it and came right back at Jouku even faster than before. Once again, Jouku was ready and sent a fire blast straight for his face, but an armadillo-cougar jumped in front of the blast and was sent flying away, only to be caught by an elm tree moments later.

Jouku was quickly realizing that he had probably bit off more than he could chew here and was forced to switch to close combat as any blast he used was blocked by one of the animals who got away relatively unscathed, then he had to deal with Krix's wild charges.

Krix was all too happy to oblige him and stopped his charges, opting for a more centralized fight. They seemed to be evenly matched though as Jouku either deflected or dodged and Krix blocked anything that was thrown at him with his claws. This was doubly effective, as he didn't feel the burning hand that Jouku was using because of his nails, and he was slowly cutting the hand to pieces as it made contact with his nails. They kept on fighting for what seemed like forever, Jouku' s henchman somehow managing to keep the oncoming horde of animals back.

Another explosion wracked the fighters and everything stopped for a moment, everyone looking for what had caused it. Out of the new inferno came reinforcements of Fallen Fire. Saiben's heart dropped as he saw how many there were. There was no way Krix could win, even if he helped now. He was about to dash into the fray and try to get Krix out of there when a couple things happened in quick succession. Something happened to Krix on the inside because he just seemed to snap. He let out a long howl and went berserk. He didn't guard at all, but no one got close enough anyway. He charged mindlessly through the fight batting people out of the way like they were flies, leaving huge gashes in them as he did.

Jouku was abruptly pulled out and given a new set of orders by a lieutenant, "Take the komodo rhino and go after the avatar!"

"Fine, but where did you come from?"

"I'd suggest you get going, but did you really expect the captain to trust you? You're only good for fighting, nothing else. Now get going before I add this to my report." Without another word Jouku got onto the beast that a few of them had been leading and started for the tree line. He knew that Jericho was sending these men to their doom, though Jericho probably didn't know that. He saw Krix going crazy and got out of there as fast as he could. There was no doubt in his mind now that Krix had somehow been cross bred himself.

Jouku had only travelled a few steps out of the fight when he was spotted by Saiben. Luckily Saiben was still suffering from indecision about whether or not to help Krix or not. As Jouku launched the komodo rhino towards him and thousand emotions flitted over Saiben's face, eventually landing on one of self disgust. He turned around, what was that he was riding? Jouku never got a good look as it sped into the forest faster than Jouku could blink.

Not one to be discouraged, Jouku continued to pursue them and found it quite easy as they seemed to be smashing a path through the forest. He continued to follow them at a clip he guessed his ride could go at for a long time.

Saiben and Seizu plunged through the forest on the falcon-horses, trying desperately to avoid all the branches and failing miserably. The falcon-horses used their beaks to smash through any branch that got in their way, but even if Saiben and Seizu got their heads as low as possible, the two animals still missed some branches that left nasty bruises on the back of their heads.

Eventually, they adopted a pattern similar to the falcon-horses and used the burning hand to cut through the foliage. Saiben did anyway, Seizu's was more of a smouldering hand, it did the trick though as she hadn't got hit on the face for awhile.

The falcon-horses probably would have carried them all the way to Omashu if Saiben hadn't been forced to call a halt. The sheer speed they had been riding at had produced bruises and blisters along both their calves, some of which were bleeding.

When they called a halt Seizu started rummaging around in her overcoat and Saiben gave some of the food to the falcon-horses. Seizu eventually got out what she was looking for and applied some of the bottle of slave to her own legs before handing it to Saiben who felt a little light headed at the sudden disappearance of the pain from his legs.

"We should probably walk so we can lose Jouku. It's not that hard to follow us with the path we left." Saiben pointed out. Seizu agreed and so did the falcon-horses which unnerved Saiben as they could get something out of their conversation without actually being able to understand them.

Before they started to walk Saiben pointed something else out, "Seizu we should move towards the mountains. They're practically in the opposite direction of Omashu and Ba-Sing-Se. Once Jouku loses our trail he'll head toward one of the two of them. We can use the height to mark where he's going and choose the other one!"

"Saiben, I hate to sound clichéd here, but time is of the essence! The longer it takes us to get to one of them, the longer it gives Fallen Fire to try and pull something off!"

"And a lot of good our warning's going to do if we're locked up back in the Fire Nation with the whole population clamouring for our heads!"

"Why do you think we won't be able to get Jouku off our trail?"

"Because we couldn't before! Look, this is going on way to long, what do you two think?" Saiben nodded in the direction of the two falcon-horses. Before Seizu could voice her objection they both shook their heads in the directions of the mountains.

"See, _they _agree with me." The only thing that kept Seizu from pointing out that Saiben was siding with a pair of animals was the fact that neither of them would flinch at ripping her to pieces. It was for that reason that she gave up and followed dejectedly on their tail.

They had been travelling for a good couple of hours and had left the forest behind in exchange for rolling fields when a noise behind them made Saiben's heart drop to somewhere around his knee. He spun around and saw Jouku come galloping out of the trees in the distance on his komodo rhino.

Saiben panicked and jumped onto his falcon-horse who let out a screech in protest. Seizu decided to mount more carefully and by the time they were on and ready to go Jouku was far closer. Seizu kept her falcon-horse going slowly because there was no way they could get away from him before he was able to get a shot at their back.

It was unfortunate for her when Jouku didn't shoot fire at her but went through the motions to make lightning. She crouched on her falcon-horse and sent him veering to the left and yelled at Saiben to do the same. The lightning exploded into a hillside almost directly to their right and sent a shower of dirt over them. Saiben risked a look behind and saw that Jouku had stopped on top of a hill and was using its height as a platform to launch his blasts.

Saiben and Seizu continued racing ahead, their damaged legs completely forgotten. They crested a hill and saw a small ribbon of blue coming up. They had intended on crossing it without stopping, but the falcon horses had other ideas and skidded to a stop, sending their riders flying over their heads and into the river.

Saiben stood up shakily from the shock of the cold water and heard Seizu letting the falcon-horses have it, "Oh, for the love of AGNI! You mean to tell me that you _**great, proud beasts**_ are scared of WATER!! Are you _afraid _that it'll mess up your feathers, you pathetic **shrew-worms**! You were the only hope in the agni damned world that we made it to Omashu, or maybe even Ba-Sing-Se, but **NO!** You lobster-turkeys are going to wimp out because you don't wanna get _**WET!!**_"

Saiben couldn't take them getting abused like that and came to their defence, "Seizu! Calm down. They couldn't get across anyway. Look at their feet! Not built swimming by a long shot." Seizu was forced to admit Saiben was right. Talons were better for ripping things apart than swimming. Saiben was also amazed that they didn't seem mad at Seizu. The brown one seemed downright sheepish after her lurid rant.

It was a moment after that Saiben was forced to yell twice as loud as Seizu had, "**OUT OF THE WATER!!**" Seizu didn't question him and struggled out after him. A split second later a bolt of lightning crashed over their heads and smashed into the river. Steam rose from where the bolt had struck and a huge assortment of fish floated to the surface, belly up.

Saiben and Seizu turned to each other and their faces showed their understanding. They were trapped because all Jouku had to do when they were crossing was shock the water and they were his for the taking.

Jouku seemed to realize this as well as he got back on his komodo rhino and rode towards them, sprinting between the hills so he would always have a clear shot. Saiben's mind worked furiously, looking for a way out and shut off once he concluded that he was undoubtedly and totally screwed. Seizu on the other hand had, what was possibly the most abstract idea of her life rolling around her head.

When Jouku eventually reached the bank he gave them his ultimatum, "I don't know what you did at the palace, but you'll have to do it again. Sorry, but as long as you have me on your tail you're going to lose."

Seizu knew her idea was farfetched but it was their only chance so she used it anyway, "But why are you trying so hard? You don't even know if your family is still alive or not."

"It doesn't matter. As long as I don't know they have control over me."

"You're _willing_ to throw away what you think is the one hope this world has for _not_ plunging into war again, just for _finding_ _out_ if your family is alive or not?"

"I don't think Saiben is the avatar. Fallen Fire is full of crap, and so are you if you think I agree with anything that they've ever done for a split second!" Jouku was letting emotion leak into what he was saying and Seizu knew she was getting close which amazed her.

"Yes you do. We don't, but you do. You saw what happened in the ocean when both of us were out. Mind telling us what happened to knock all of you out?"

Jouku took a moment before responding which was all the answer Seizu needed. She'd messed with him enough that he wouldn't be able to use lightning. Now she was waiting for the ideal moment to make a run for it.

"When Saiben dive bombed us, one of the others shot at him and ignited your, you were using fireworks, right?"

"You're full of crap!" Seizu laughed, grabbed Saiben and dove into the water. Jouku immediately went through the motions for lightning and received an explosion in front of his face. Saiben saw what happened and knew what Seizu had been doing. He started to swim like mad as well.

They crossed the river and struggled up on the other side and started to run and Saiben called back over his shoulder, "**Go back to **_**Krix**_" He directed the comment at the falcon horses but Jouku got a quizzical look on his face. Moments later Saiben saw what he was doing and dived out of the way, tackling Seizu in the process. Jouku opened his mouth and a gout of flame shot out and across the river, searing the air where Seizu had been seconds earlier.

Saiben struggled up, ignoring the profanity that Seizu spit out along with the dirt she had swallowed. Saiben started to run again with Seizu close on his heels and looked back to see Jouku going through the river with a grim expression on his face.


	19. Reignition

Chapter Nineteen: Re-Ignition

Saiben continued his jog across the rolling plains with Seizu struggling along beside him. Although it had taken Jouku longer to cross the river, they were so tired that he would catch up to them regardless. Saiben worked up the courage and energy to look behind him and saw what he had the last dozen or so times he had: Jouku making a little ground.

Jouku had continued at the same 'barely more than them' pace ever since he had gotten out of the river. The only reason Saiben hadn't taken advantage of the adrenaline he should have been getting was that it had run out a long time ago and Jouku wasn't able to shoot lightning at them any longer to trigger it.

That was their only silver lining right now because Seizu had been able to mess up his thinking just enough to stop him from using it. Even with that thought, it seemed that he would be within range of blasting them into oblivion at any time.

Despite all this, Saiben still had one scrap of hope for the situation. They had been slogging across the plain for hours now and the land was just starting to slope upwards towards the mountains in front of them. This had a down side though as the slight incline was wearing them all out faster and faster as it got steeper.

Saiben had continued towards the mountains even after Jouku had spotted them for no other reason than he thought he might be able to lose him in them somehow Seizu had thought about voicing the idea that they should have gone towards one of the Earth Kingdoms cities, but she was too tired now to even talk except for the occasional grunt or wheeze.

On what seemed like the hundredth time Saiben checked behind, Jouku wasn't all he saw. There was a small cloud of dust a long way behind Jouku and it was growing bigger every second.

Jouku noticed a minute later and Saiben heard him yell in exasperation, "Oh, come _on!_" A minute after that Saiben was able to see what was making the cloud. A pair of frilled lizards was racing towards them as fast as they could go.

When Saiben saw them his heart gave a leap, not because they could rest a little on them, but because no animal would ever leave Krix in that fight unless he had already won it. The elation that had jumped up in Saiben's heart was crushed a couple minutes later when Jouku blasted one of the lizards as it ran past him. Although the lizard recovered in a few seconds (Jouku was nearly as tired as they are) it submitted to Jouku because it knew there was no way it could get away without being killed.

It took Saiben a second or two to figure out why it had done that, but eventually put it down to the fact that its drive for survival had made it do it. The other lizard was beside them a second later and waited for them to get on.

Saiben was sure it couldn't take both of them and there was no way he was leaving Seizu behind so almost before he knew what he was doing he had taken off the lizard's saddle and started ripping it to pieces.

Despite having nearly no energy left, Seizu found her voice and shouted a protest, "Saiben! What are you doing?!"

A few seconds later Saiben held out the two stirrups and a rope made from the saddle, "A two seater!" The lizard figured out what Saiben was doing and held up its tail for him to tie the improvised rope to.

A few seconds later Seizu was cruising across the plains with Saiben being towed behind on his newly crafted rollerblades. Saiben decided to experiment and checked behind him slowly, trying not to lose his balance. He knew he shouldn't be taking chances, but he felt like he was going so fast that all his negative thoughts had been left behind.

He didn't like what he saw. Jouku was now closer than ever and was still making ground because of the slight weight Saiben was adding to his own lizard. It also didn't help that when Saiben steered himself around a rock or a bump it threw off the lizards balance a little.

Jouku continued making ground across the dwindling plain until the mountains took over and he started to have to dodge rocks that jutted out of the ground. He would have liked to be able to just blast his way through, but being practically dead on his feet made that impossible. Slowly the rocks became more prominent and he began to lose sight of Saiben more and more.

He rounded another rock and saw that Saiben had crashed at the beginning of a plateau. He raced towards and nearly had him when Seizu came out of nowhere with a fire blast shooting out before her. Jouku barely had time to deflect the blast and he slipped from his lizard so he would be freer to move. This was exactly what Saiben had been waiting for and dashed forward, dropping the rope that had he had been '_tangled_' in moments before.

Seizu kept Jouku preoccupied with her fire blasts, but her power was dwindling fast. That didn't really matter though. Any fire at all was causing Jouku to deflect it with all the force he could muster. A few seconds later Saiben hopped onto Jouku' lizard and Seizu ran for it towards her own. Jouku had known what they had been doing from the moment Seizu had attacked him, but had been unable to do anything against it.

Just as the two were going to make good their escape a thought drifted into Jouku' mind, "You backed me into a corner you know!" Saiben got a quizzical look on his face for a moment and then realized what he'd meant. At the same the moment the lizard exploded from underneath him and he flew through the air a little before rolling to a stop, luckily, farther away from Jouku.

He looked to his right, looking for Seizu and saw she had suffered a similar fate, with lizard entrails now adorning her clothes. They looked at each other for a split second then got up and started to run as fast as their legs could carry them, which was saying much. Jouku seemed to have gotten a better rest on the lizard than they had and started to catch up with them quicker than he had before.

Saiben stumbled forward across the plateau making movements with his hands first at the earth then at Jouku, hoping that he was the avatar and maybe he could throw some rocks at Jouku. This hope was in vain though because nothing of the sort happened. What did happen was that he was suddenly unable to breath. He still stumbled forward, the drive to get away from the monster that was chasing him propelling him. His vision became blurred, then an outline of red appeared at the outside of his vision and, a few seconds later he knew no more.

Jouku saw Saiben starting to try and earth bend in front of him, then was surprised when he slowed considerably and started clutching his neck. He checked on Seizu and saw she was doing it too. A few seconds later the same thing happened to him. Unlike the two he was chasing, he had the sense to lie down before he fell and hurt his head.

When he did, the choking sensation went away and he watched what happened next through slitted eyes. Five men seemed to fall out of the sky and landed unharmed, around Saiben and Seizu. They proceeded to pick them up and ran off at speeds rivalling that of the falcon horses.

Jouku got up once they were out of eyesight, which wasn't long, and dusted himself off, then went back to collect as much meat as he could find from decimated lizards. He knew this meant that Air Benders were still around, which was incredible, but it just made his job harder. There was no way he would tell this to Jericho under any circumstances as they could stabilize the world with their presence. This meant he would half to think up a lie that was iron clad and phrased so it looked like them getting away wasn't his fault at all. Normally, he might have gone after the air benders, but he was weaker than a new born kitten-rabbit, and didn't even relish having to think about walking all the way back.

He started a fire once he got back to the plain and started to roast the lizard meat. Even though Saiben had gotten away he couldn't help smiling. Saiben was in a safe place now and there was no way he would be caught. That meant that Jouku wouldn't have to chase him anymore and Saiben had a chance to become a realized avatar which would mean he would be able to take down Fallen Fire and free Jouku and his family. Jouku packed what was left of the lizard meat and started back towards the woods. If he was lucky, there would still be a boat there from Fallen Fire he could use to get back home.


	20. Revival

Chapter Twenty: Revival

Saiben's eyes didn't want to open. He felt like if they did they would pop out of his head, which also had considerable pain in it. With a groan he forced his eyes open and much to his delight; his eyes did not pop out of his head. Next he tried to check whether or not all his limbs were still intact and he found they were because he found rope bit into his wrists and ankles when he tried to move. On the bright side, the rope wasn't rough so it didn't hurt that bad. His eyes were also adjusting to the intense light that shot into them.

When they were fully adjusted they shot open in surprise. There must have been close to thirty kids sitting around him, staring at him like he had a third eye and blue skin! He turned his head to the right despite the soreness, but he'd been in a nearly wrecked state for the past who knew how long so he was used to it. Had it really been that long? He'd gotten rest when they were stockpiling at the docks, but the past even week he'd had his whole life torn apart and then rebuilt into something completely different. Seizu was laying on his right, happily snoozing, and a trail of drool leading out of her mouth and onto the ground.

Deciding that he just had kids to deal with, he decided to try and take charge, "Okay, can one of one untie me? Actually, better yet, tell me what's going on. The last thing I remember is getting chased up the mountain by a psychopath."

"Why would we do that? We just got done marking you for target practice!"

Saiben only had time to yell, "WHAT!" before a pie fell through the air and landed on the left side of his face.

"You really don't want to do that to her." Saiben managed to get out between mouthfuls of the pie that was smothering his face. It was too late though, and another pie was already sailing through the air towards Seizu. When it made contact what would have made less than desirable parts to the children's vocabularies was muffled by the pie that had landed squarely on her mouth. Her shouts died down moments later as she started to eat her way out of the pie.

A whole hearted laugh sounded behind Saiben when this happened and he rolled his backwards and saw an old man wearing orange robes sitting on a railing. He was bald and had snow white eyebrows and a droopy moustache. He seemed to float off the railing and walked towards the group, "Okay, you woke them up, now get back to your class." He didn't say it in a stern way, or even like he was one of those 'good' teachers everyone wants to get. He said it like he loved everyone one of the kids.

Seizu finished her pie and started to take notice of her surroundings. A second later her eyes focused on the man and an involuntary yell left her, "HOLY CRAP! HE'S AN AIRBENDER!!" Saiben never heard that though as the man made a deft movement of his hand and a bubble of air seemed to appear around Seizu's head and contain the noise.

The man spoke just as kindly to her as he had to the children, "Please keep your voice down, you don't want the elders cranky when they're deciding what to do with you."

Saiben seemed to be taking the whole thing really well because the fact that an air bender was standing right in front of him hadn't fazed him at all. He felt like if someone had asked him any time before now whether there were air benders he would have said yes and thought it an obvious answer. His brows creased as he saw the contradiction with that thinking.

Saiben was still painfully aware that they were tied up and decided to ask again, "Okay, target practice is over for us right? Could you untie us now?"

"I could, but you have to understand, the last time there was a fire bender here things didn't exactly go well."

Saiben's heart dropped when he heard those words and he was ready to plead with the man to change his views, "Please don't tell me you have the same view of us as the rest of the world does."

"No, we don't. Ozai was power crazy and completely out of his mind and we don't begrudge your nation based on something that happened two centuries ago. We just don't know why you were coming towards us and being chased by that madman."

"He isn't a madman, he's," The man held up his hand to stop Saiben, "Please, save your breath. I think you're going to need it when you explain why you're here."

"Okay, could you please untie us?"

"You could have untied yourself at anytime! We don't fire proof everything like your country does, we've never had to!"

Saiben tried to smack his forward to show his stupidity, remembered the ropes, burned through them, then did so.

He gave Seizu a side-glance before he asked his next question, "Is there food anytime in the near future? We haven't exactly eaten in the past day or so and we've been running for the better part of it."

"We were planning on having dinner while you explained your situation, but I might be able to sneak you something." He jumped to an opening a good eight feet in the air and disappeared inside. He reappeared carrying more pies and jumped down again without dropping a crumb. Just as he was about to hand them to Saiben, one of them shot out of his hand and splattered Saiben in the face.

Once Saiben was done spluttering he decided to let the old man have it, "Don't tell me you were the one who told the kids to do that that to us? You just wasted a perfectly good pie! And who told you that was funny anyway? I'm just going to," Saiben couldn't finish and burst out laughing. The goofy smile the man seemed to be constantly wearing made it impossible for you to stay mad at him for long.

As soon as Saiben recovered he asked the man something he had been meaning to, "Sorry, but, what's your name exactly?"

"You'll find that out shortly. All the elders will be introduced when your hearing takes place."

"Why does that sound like we're being put in a police line up?"

"I was told to try and intimidate you a little. It goes against us so much that I couldn't stand to." The man was grinning again and it forced Saiben to as well.

While Saiben was carrying on the conversation with the man Seizu was taking in her new surroundings. They were on a low part of the temple. The rest of it rose to meet the sky and was eventually lost in the clouds. There were numerous other small plateaus around that were used for a variety of things. From a sleeping area for flying bison, to an air ball court and a launching pad for gliders.

Seizu's eyes refused to actually believe what they saw. The place almost seemed to have an ethereal quality to it. Everything was balanced and flowed from one area to the next. She continued to look in wonder as a group of air benders flew into the sky and started to do loops and spins in there gliders, grinning like mad men as they did. One tried to stand on his glider and almost careened into the rock of the temple. He scooted up the rock face, laughing while he did.

While Saiben and Seizu were both preoccupied another air bender approached them. He looked to be less friendly than the first one they had met. His face was wizened and had a pointy beard that shot down from his chin and ended a short distance later.

He interrupted Saiben's conversation to make his announcement, "The new _arrivals_ are to come to the council chamber, _now_." Seizu's roped were cut away and they were escorted by the friendlier of the two to a new room.

While on the way the man tried to explain something to Saiben, "Your presence here isn't exactly liked by some. Sourpuss, over there, feels particularly strong about you being brought here, so watch him. He might try and twist you words."

Presently, they arrived at the council chamber and their kind host left to take his seat.

The last elder to come into the room started to hand out cards to each of them and finally came to Saiben and Seizu whom he asked, "You can right your name on these. Name cards take care of all the introductions." His smile wasn't as big as the first one, but radiated warmth and Saiben was forced to like him as much as the first one.

Saiben quickly scanned the other's nametags to see what the names, silently marking the names he thought he should remember. They were the names of the sourpuss, Foumeru, the first air nomad, Shunso, and the one who had been handing out the nametags, Jiakka. A few of the elders seemed to dislike him a little as he was getting a few pointed glares when he finished handing out the name tags.

They hadn't given Saiben any ink or even a brush, so he tried vainly to lightly burn his name onto it by using one finger. The ashes smeared though and he flipped it over to try again. Once he had completed that to greater success he looked up and found a few of the elders staring in shock at him.

Just as Shunso had predicted, Foumeru jumped to his feet and began yelling, "You didn't tell us they were fire benders! We wouldn't have let them up here if we had known!"

Jiakka addressed him with patience and a tone similar to one used on a child, "We told you they were from the Fire Nation and were being pursued by someone from the same nation that was a master bender. Generally, if the pursuer is a master bender, then the only way the runners have lasted that long is if they were benders. Surely you came to the same conclusion."

Foumeru quieted down, realizing his jab had been reversed. Though this silenced him, it only angered him more and Saiben was sure that that retort had just fuelled him even more.

"Now then, before you tell us how you got to be running across our welcome mat, I thought we might treat ourselves to some dinner." He clapped his hands and six children came into the room, heaving a long table with a huge array of pretty much every food imaginable, with the exception of meat of course.

"Now what did we learn?" Jiakka asked mockingly.

"Never skip cake making class." The children answered on cue, smiling the whole time, as the absurdity of the situation wasn't lost on them.

"Good, now don't let me see you until you hit every one of these men right in the crown with one!" The kids giggled as they ran out of the room.

"Honestly! A tradition going back centuries and they fluff it off like its play or something!" Everything Jiakka had said for the past while hadn't had a serious grain in it. The rest of the elders smiled from his little joke and a couple went so far as to get out umbrellas to cover their heads with.

Jiakka looked at them sidelong and continued to poke fun at the seriousness of the situation by saying, "Took you long enough." These evoked a few chuckles among them, which couldn't even be silenced by the frosty glare of Foumeru.

Jiakka rubbed his hands to show they could start eating, but before he did he addressed Saiben and Seizu, "Now, I would like to get this over with quickly," he glanced over at Foumeru who sat up straight and mimed locking his mouth shut, "So I would suggest you take turns telling your story, while the other one can enjoy this splendid meal."

"Okay and I know you're hungry…"

"No one knows more so than I."

Saiben did a double take in his mind before he, continued, "I was going to ask you what you know about the state of the world right now. It'll speed things up a lot."

Jiakka gave Saiben a knowing smile, "We haven't turned our eyes away from the world, we're just letting it sort itself out before we make our re-entry. From the four Air Temples, we have eyes in almost every nation. We know how your government is set up and the general push and pull of the people. We also know about the creation of those shadow organizations, beyond that, no real specifics. Now if you would excuse me." With that said Jiakka resumed the task of piling his plate up.

Saiben decided he would start and motioned Seizu to help herself before he did, "Well, I would guess the whole thing started when our government created a new position of High Chancellor. They didn't know it, but the guy they gave the position to was the leader of a shadow organization called Fallen Fire. Once he got the position he started to act as a spokesman for the Fire Lord, when he had actually already trapped him down in the dungeons and was barely keeping him alive.

Me and Seizu got dragged into the mess when Fallen Fire somehow came to the conclusion that I was the avatar, even though it should have been someone from the Earth Kingdoms. They caught me when I was walking home one day and tried to, as they put it 'convince' me, to join them. I didn't want the Earth Kingdoms to have a reason to refuel their grudges against us so naturally I declined. They didn't take that to well so they started to try and 'convince' me."

Seizu swallowed and motioned for Saiben to dig in, "Trying to get Saiben was only one part of their plan though. At some point before they'd taken over the police force. Maybe even other parts of the government. The High Chancellor called in Saiben's brother, Kodou, when he was visiting the police force and told him they were going to be going after people on the blacklist the government had. Kodou was also told that they were going to be cracking down on shadow organizations with our Nation's special forces.

I think you can tell that meant that the police had been taken over without realizing it. Kodou came running into Saiben's school the first chance he got and met with me. I was Saiben's bending instructor, until me and him were chased out of the country. He explained what was going on and I went to make sure Saiben was okay and he went back so he could figure out what was going on from the inside. I found Saiben when he was being attacked for the first time and bailed him out once they stunned him.

They didn't really stun him like normal. One of them told him he was the avatar which sort of threw his mind into shock. After that we decided on trying to get to the Fire Lord and explain what was happening. Before we got there though, Fallen Fire showed up again with a bunch of new people that called themselves Fire Ants. They fight like wild animals, don't guard at all, and use something called the burning hand that burns anyone on contact, severely to boot.

I sort of made Saiben slip up for a split second and he got his head beaten in. We were almost done for when one of Saiben's friends, Jouku, came in and turned the tide of the fight. After that, Jouku took us back to the house where Saiben's family was hiding until things calmed down.

Once Saiben had recovered enough him, me, and Jouku tried to go back to the palace. Jouku used a secret passage and we got in without a hitch. Once we were inside, though, Fallen Fire ambushed us and threw us in the prison under the palace."

Saiben had eaten his fill and motioned for Seizu to take a break, "Jouku was actually being black mailed by Fallen Fire for the past eight years. They had called him into service once they marked me down as the avatar. They were using Jouku' family as leverage on him and he didn't even know if they were alive or not. They used that unknown to keep him in line.

Even though he was being black mailed he still wasn't cooperative and that allowed us a little room to move. On the other hand, when they had first started black mailing him, they brainwashed him and made him into a fire bending master. That meant we couldn't make a run for it as long as he was around. We were taken to a holding cell and we found the old Fire Lord in there. They were keeping him alive to use as leverage and to keep his powers of authority.

All of us were eventually taken out and they led the Fire Lord off somewhere else. I was put in a cell they called the mirror cell. The ceiling of the place was made of one-way mirrors that looked like stone. I was stuck in there until I got a little help from Kodou, who managed to sneak in. He gave me a little something to boost my fire bending. At that point I still thought there was only one mirror in the whole place and continued to wander around, looking for it.

It was really cold in the room and when I sneezed, I think I accidentally fire bended, because the fire I had in my hand exploded and blew the whole roof off the room. That's when I met back up with Seizu. She had been…what were you doing Seizu, you never told me?"

Seizu looked up from her huge mouthful watermelon and hurriedly swallowed before she answered, "They didn't really need me around, so they decided to get rid of me. They weren't really in a hurry so I ended up sitting in a waiting room like I was at the doctor's office for probably about half an hour. In that time I realized that I was backed into a corner. I used that fact to allow myself to use lightning. When they came to execute me, I took out my two executioners with the lightning and began looking for Saiben. I found him when he made the floor underneath me explode."

With is question answered Saiben continued the story, "After that we melted a path out of the rubble and got out of the palace. Once that was done we headed back to the school to get some supplies before we tried to get out of the country. Fallen Fire probably had a slight hunch where we were going because when we went to leave we had to fight another squad of them. I tried to mimic what I done back at the palace and I knocked most of them out with the explosion.

After that we headed down to the harbour and took a while to decide how we were going to leave exactly. Eventually we settled on gliders. They weren't the kind that you use, they were more improvised and we used fireworks for lift. We still glided, but we used them to keep our altitude.

When we were all done our stock piling, we made our departure a few days before the Fire Festival. We used the firework in the grand finale for lift off and started for the Earth Kingdom. When we got close a group of Fallen Fire people got close to us and started to try and attack us. Unfortunately, we were low at that point and when Seizu tried to use a firework to get some height they hit her and her whole bag exploded."

Saiben started trying to choose his words carefully here because he knew that this part was prime for Foumeru to blast him to bits, "I dive bombed them so they wouldn't get Seizu and when I did they must have hit me too because the next thing I knew we were on shore and only Jouku and one of the other five operatives were alive farther down the beach."

Just as Saiben had feared Foumeru started up, "That is a giant black hole in your story, not to mention that the whole thing is highly implausible!"

Saiben decided to try and take him on, "Yes it is, but if the whole thing was just a regular scenario then we wouldn't have been forced to flee our country, now would we?"

"That's why you needed an excuse to come here!"

"Do you really think it's common knowledge that you weren't annihilated during the war? We didn't even know that there was anyone up here, we were just trying to use the mountains geography to get away from Jouku."

Foumeru quieted down after he realized he would have to bring his argument to the rest of the elders if he was going to win, and grudgingly motioned Saiben to continue, "Jouku and his companion were out cold so as soon as we took stock of what was left we started off again.

We got a good distance through the woods and found some apple trees. When we tried to pick them, the plants around us knocked us out." Saiben held up his hand to quell any immediate interruptions, which there weren't, before he continued, "Let me explain, then I'll answer any questions. We woke up in the basement of somebody's house. A little while later we met a scientist named Krix. He was working on behalf of the University of Ba-Sing-Se and researching cross breeding.

He had become really good at crossing animals and had even started on plants, which we were unfortunate enough to meet without that little bit of knowledge. He somehow managed to put some animals into the plants so they could actually move around! Um, any other questions?"

Shunso was practically bursting at the seams and burst out when Saiben opened the floor, "We've known about Krix for a long time! Some of us are good friends with him!"

"He never told us about you though, and I'm pretty sure the existence of air benders would excite him a lot."

"Oh, obviously he didn't know what we were! He just knew us as some old men that were on a sabbatical."

"What's a sabbatical?"

"Just when you leave your home for awhile to get peace and quiet and reflect on life."

"Okay, if there aren't any more questions can I continue?" No one asked any more so Saiben did, "Krix had also taken Jouku and the other guy hostage. When we were about to leave for Omashu Jouku and his partner escaped and started attacking Krix's home.

We stayed there for backup in case he needed it and were forced to flee when two more boats full of Fallen Fire operatives came. It also didn't help that Jouku started chasing us again. The reason he wasn't able to catch us was that we were using the falcon horses that Krix bred which are by far the fastest thing on the earth. We would have outstripped him by miles, but we had to go through forest, which slowed us down a lot.

When we got out of the forest we had to get across the river southeast of here. The only problem was that the falcon horses couldn't swim at all. In the time that we were trying to figure out how to get them across, Jouku caught up with us. Seizu messed with his head a little so we could make a run for it across the river without getting fried by his lightning.

Jouku and both of us were forced to leave our animals on the other side so we were being chased across the plains on foot. Just before we got into the mountains we found out that Krix had beat back Fallen Fire because he sent us two frilled lizards. Jouku stole one before it got to us and we had to improvise again.

I used the stirrups and saddle material to make wheels so the lizard could pull me across the plain. Even though that took a lot of the load off, it still made ours go a little bit slower than his so he was catching up and we decided to try and ambush him to try and get the other lizard back. That's pretty much when you guys came and saved us."

Jiakka stood and wiped his mouth before he spoke, "Well, thank you for your explanation. We will tell you what we've decided on shortly. Saiben and Seizu were allowed to stay in the room and continue to eat despite their shrunken stomachs. The elders filed out and left them alone, the only intrusion being a flying lemur every once in a while.

Saiben and Seizu had been led away from the council chamber by another air bender named Narik after they'd eaten their fill. He had kept both of them busy by constantly asking questions about the state of the world and how they lived and almost every facet of life that there could be. He even got them to show him some bending which he ooed and awed at like it was a fireworks display. His interest in the outer world was insatiable.

When Shunso came to get them again Narik almost started to openly pout. It wasn't until Shunso told him that he'd be seeing them again did his mood improve.

Saiben and Seizu were led back to the council chamber and Jiakka delivered the verdict, "We will let you stay here as we can verify that you are the avatar."

"YOU KNEW I WAS THE AVATAR?!" The immediate shock wore off and Saiben had a question form in his head, "Wait, I'm really the avatar?"

"The statues in our sanctuary glowed at about the time that you said you went unconscious over the ocean. I'm also willing to bet that when you made that explosion that got you out of the dungeons you were actually air and fire bending in tandem."

Saiben's shoulders started to sag but he continued to try and disprove Jiakka's claims, "But the avatar is supposed to be from the Earth Kingdoms, not the Fire Nation!"

"We know that and if your thoughts about Fallen Fire are true, then it would be easy for them to have had groups in the Earth Kingdoms a long time ago. I don't know how they managed to pick you out of the crowd in your own nation, but I don't see why it wouldn't work in the Earth Kingdoms. They also have more power in the Fire Nation, so it only makes sense for them to want you there."

"Okay, I'm the avatar, that doesn't help us in stopping Fallen Fire from taking a swing at the Earth Kingdoms."

"The reason we survived the genocide during the war is part of the reason that we know what's going on in the world. We were primarily a nomadic people. Only the monks stayed in the air temples. The Fire Nation never had a hope of tracking down any of us who didn't join and become a monk. The same is true today as we have air benders living normal lives in every nation! True they don't bend out in the open, but we're out there!"

All this knowledge was taking its toll on Saiben and he acquired a slight twitch in his right eye just from the scope of what they could learn here. Seizu was in an even worse state with her mouth hanging by its hinges.

Before either of them recovered Jiakka continued with less surprising news, "It is getting late so if you would let me show you where you will be sleeping while you stay here." Saiben had to pinch himself a couple times, but recovered and followed after Jiakka. Seizu took considerably longer and reached her own room which was across the hall from Saiben's a half hour of groping through the failing light later.

Jouku struggled through the last of the underbrush and fell out onto the beach, panting like a dyeing dog. When he had recovered enough, he got up and scanned down the beach. A short ways down there was a Fire Nation ship that still had its gangplank extended down to the beach.

He walked up to it and shouted, "Anyone on there!?" When no response came he took a look at the water then blasted the sand around the hull until it was liquid, then, very carefully, pushed the ship through the liquid sand and back into open water.

Once that was done he went to get onto the boat but he heard a voice behind him, "Wait, I need to get on!" The man was probably the only survivor of the fight that had engulfed Krix's home. The man ran down the beach and jumped onto the gangplank.

Jouku took one look at him and smacked his head against the side of the ship, knocking him out. He dragged the limp body up to the bow and tossed it over the edge. He needed to be the only one to go back because his report had to be the only one the Jericho ever got.

Once he got the ship going towards his own nation again, he locked the controls and went to find an unlocked cabin. When he found one he flopped down on the bed and tried to take a well-deserved rest, but his mind wouldn't let him do that.

"_Why did I lie to Saiben about him being the avatar?_" Next came the rapid series of answers that he was used to. He had lied mainly out of disbelief that Saiben actually was the avatar. He also knew that he wouldn't be able to live with himself if he sacrificed what he knew was probably the only solace that the world would find against the hell that Fallen Fire was getting ready to unleash on it for information about his family.

Saiben woke up and smiled as he took in his new surroundings. True, his room lacked much of what he'd had at home, but he hadn't exactly brought a lot with him. The bed was a little small, so his feet were barely covered by the sheets, but he didn't really mind that as the covers were extremely warm and cozy. There was also a little basin across the room that water could be put into for washing up in the morning. There was a mat across the floor in the middle of the room and a small bookshelf for anything you might pick up over the years. The lack of a mirror didn't really bother him since he'd been through the hell. He could feel where the scar was from when his skull had been broken and there was still tender skin around where he'd been burned.

Saiben rolled out of bed and blew some fire into his hands to warm himself up. It was a lot colder in the north than he thought it would be. That combined with the fact that he was probably higher than when he had been gliding probably didn't help things.

He walked out of his room and out onto the main area of the temple. The sun was already above the mountains and was making everything it touched sparkle because of the morning dew. He walked toward the statue that sat at the top of the set of stairs that led to the main take off point for gliders.

He stopped behind it and psyched himself up to look at it. Once he had he walked around and looked at the statue of Aang. All the statue did was make him fell confused. Just from the short conversation he had had with him what he thought he knew had been severely shaken. Now he didn't know if Aang had been the immoral radical he had been told he had turned into. Thinking back on it, there really wasn't a reason why he would betray everyone anyway, and when the kidnappings had occurred there hadn't been any major scuffle which was odd considering they were all powerful benders.

Saiben sat down in front of the statue and began to try and sort through the mess that he had created for himself. Eventually he gave up because he wasn't getting anywhere. After that he began to think about what he was going to be doing now. He had been given iron clad proof that he was the avatar and that wasn't going to change. With that in mind he knew that he would probably stay here to master air bending, but the whole situation with Fallen Fire was a serious thorn in the side of that plan.

He continued thinking about it until Jiakka walked up beside him and sat down, "You know that what you were taught about Aang was wrong right?"

"Yeah, I talked with him in a dream a couple of days ago. That tipped me off to that."

"He came here shortly after he disappeared and made us swear that we wouldn't tell anyone about him."

"Why would he do that? How long did he know that you were around?"

"He discovered us shortly after he disappeared from the world. He wanted a peaceful life which was understandable after what he had to do."

"So he killed the Fire Lord and not Toph and Katara?"

"Is that what they told you? No, he only killed Ozai, and a day or two before the Earth Kingdom's forces even got there."

"Why would they lie about something like that?"

"At the time of the invasion there was a crazy in charge of the allied forces. He didn't like Aang too much and his disappearance fit perfectly for him."

"Okay, but why would Aang choose to go away, that's just neglecting his duty as avatar!"

"No, there was a lot happening behind the scenes on the day of the invasion and he didn't really have any choice. It was the only way he could think of to preserve peace and not have the world fall immediately back into war."

"Why would his disappearance do that?"

"That you'll have to find out for yourself. We recorded the true history and made two of the air temple sanctuaries into its holding place. When you master airbending you can learn it."

"Why can't you just tell me now?!"

"Because if you master airbending before Fallen Fire is quelled than we would have to resort to the secret Aang left behind for us. If you can take your time because this whole thing is a false alarm then there wouldn't be any reason for you to know it anyway."

"Wait, what secret?"

"Aang left behind some techniques that would give the avatar an unheard of advantage over anyone else. He called the forbidden techniques because most of them are unethical at their base."

"Okay, so patience is a virtue. What are we going to do about Fallen Fire now though?"

"Well, we started to move against them last night. We told everyone one of us the situation and now we have informants in every nation and fairly high up the social ladder too. If they try to pull anything we'll know very quickly. Until then, we should start training you so you can actually call yourself the avatar!"

With that said he rose and motioned Saiben to stand before he continued, "Unfortunately, I'm already teaching cake baking, and so your bending instructor is going to be Narik."

The exuberant man flew down from somewhere up above and landed next to them without a sound. It was almost as weird as Seizu smiling to see a man in his late twenties to be acting like a ten year old on Christmas day. Saiben cut off Jiakka before he could continue, "Okay, but there's something I need to tell you both before I start. I didn't mention it during my story because Elder Foumeru would have had a field day with it."

"Oh for goodness sakes! That was an act! We just got you to tell us that story so we could confirm that you were the avatar! He's a grumpy one, but none of us are actually like that!"

"Okay, that contradicts what I was going to say. Me and Jouku can analyze body movements really well so I won't need much of an explanation"

"I'm assuming that you weren't using it when you were telling us your story or else you'd have seen through his charade."

"Yes, I wasn't. It also doesn't work if my mind is really stressed, so that's why I seem far more competent sometimes than others."

It was Narik's turn to speak and his voice betrayed his anxiousness to get going, "Okay, thanks for telling us. I had planned on getting through the basics quickly so this great! The actual area we were going to be training in is this way." Saiben said his farewell to Jiakka and followed Narik down to his first air bending lesson with a feeling like things might just be all right after all. They were watching for Fallen Fire everywhere they would possibly strike, Krix and Seizu, and the rest of his family were out of harms way and he might be able to help Jouku once he was strong enough. This was going to be a good day was all he could think.

End of Book Five

Instinct's Info: Hope you liked it. Book Six is up as is Book Three for those who want to read about Aang and all the convoluted stuff talked about in the last chapter.


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